0 


THE 

SHERIDAN  ROAD 
MYSTERY 


UNTV.  OF  CALIF.  LIBRARY.  LOS  ANGELES 


THE 

SHERIDAN  ROAD 
MYSTERY 


BY 

PAUL  AND  MABEL  THORNE 


NEW    YORK 

GROSSET    &    DUNLAP 

PUBLISHERS 


Made  in  the  United  State*  of  America 


COPTMCHI*  1921 
BT  DODD,  MEAD  AND  COMPANY,  INC. 

THIED  PJUNTIXG,   MARCH,   1922 


PRINTED  IN  U.  S.  A, 


CONTENTS 
Chapter  Page 

I    THE  SHOT 1 

II  DETECTIVE  SERGEANT  MORGAN  ....  15 

III  INVESTIGATION 23 

IV  THE  APARTMENT  ACROSS  THE  HALL  35 
V    PECULIAR  FACTS 46 

VI     THE  CABLE  FROM  LONDON 58 

VII    MR.  MARSH 74 

VIII    A  DEFINITE  CLUE 85 

IX     THE  LAST  LETTER 101 

X     THE  STOLEN  SUITCASE 112 

XI     THE  TRAIL  GROWS  CLEARER 123 

XII    MISSING 135 

XIII  STARTLING  DISCLOSURES 148 

XIV  THE  NIGHT  CALL 161 

XV  ' '  DEAD  MEN  TELL  No  TALES  " . . . .  175 

XVI     THE  CLOSED  COUNTRY  HOUSB 191 

XVII    WHAT  THE  CARETAKER  SAW 210 

XVIII  THE  ENEMY  SHOWS  His  HAND...  225 

XIX    KIDNAPPED 233 

XX    THE  FALLEN  PINE 243 

XXI  THE   CHIMNEY   THAT  WOULDN'T 

DRAW 256 

XXII    CORNERED 269 

XXIII  STTNSBT  .  284 


2133137 


THE 

SHERIDAN  ROAD 
MYSTERY 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD 
MYSTERY 

CHAPTER  I 

THE  SHOT 

IT  WAS  a  still,  balmy  night  in  late  October. 
The  scent  of  burned  autumn  leaves  hung  in 
the  air,  and  a  hazy  moon,  showing  just  over 
the  housetops,  deepened  the  shadows  on  the 

streets. 

Policeman  Murphy  stopped  for  a  moment,  as 
was  his  custom,  at  the  corner  of  Lawrence  Ave- 
nue and  Sheridan  Eoad.  He  knew  that  it  was 
about  two  o'clock  in  the  morning  as  that  was  the 
hour  at  which  he  usually  reached  this  point, 
glanced  sharply  up  and  down  Sheridan  Eoad, 
which  at  that  moment  seemed  to  be  completely 
deserted  save  for  the  distant  red  tail-light  of  a 
belated  taxi,  the  whir  of  whose  engine  came  to 
him  quite  distinctly  on  the  quiet  night  air. 

Just  then  Policeman  Murphy  heard  a  shot! 

Instantly  his  body  quickened  with  an  awak- 
ened alertness,  and  he  glanced  east  and  west 

1 


THE  SHEEIDAN  EOAD  MYSTERY 

along  the  lonely  stretch  of  Lawrence  Avenue. 
He  saw  nothing,  and  concluded  that  the  sound 
he  had  heard  must  have  come  from  one  of  the 
many  apartment  buildings  which  surrounded 
him. 

Murphy  pondered  for  a  moment.  Was  it  a 
burglary,  a  domestic  row,  or  perhaps  a  murder? 
The  position  of  the  shot  was  hard  to  locate,  for 
it  had  been  but  the  sound  of  a  moment  on  the 
still  night.  Murphy,  however,  decided  to  take  a 
chance,  and  started  stealthily  north  on  Sheridan 
Road,  keeping  within  the  shadow  that  clung  to 
the  buildings. 

He  had  moved  only  a  short  distance  in  this 
way  when  a  man  in  a  bath  robe  dashed  out  of 
the  doorway  of  an  apartment  house  just  ahead 
of  him  and  ran  north.  Murphy  instantly  broke 
into  pursuit.  At  the  sound  of  his  heavily  shod 
feet  on  the  pavement,  the  man  in  the  bath  robe 
stopped  and  turned.  Murphy  slowed  up  and 
the  man  advanced  to  meet  him. 

"I'm  glad  you're  handy,  Officer,"  panted  the 
man.  "I  think  somebody  has  been  murdered  in 
our  building.  Come  and  investigate." 

"Sure,"  assented  Murphy.  "That's  what 
I'm  here  for,"  and  as  they  mounted  the  steps  of 


THE  SHOT 

the  apartment  house,  he  inquired,  "What  flat 
was  it?" 

"The  top  floor  on  the  north  side,"  replied  the 
man,  who  then  informed  Murphy  that  his  name 
was  Marsh,  and  that  he  lived  on  the  second 
floor,  just  below  this  apartment.  "You  see," 
Marsh  continued,  "a  little  while  ago  my  wife 
and  I  were  awakened  by  a  noise  in  the  apart- 
ment over  us.  It  sounded  like  a  struggle  of 
some  kind.  As  we  listened  we  felt  sure  that 
several  people  were  taking  part  in  it.  Suddenly 
there  was  a  shot,  and  a  sound  followed  as  if  a 
body  had  fallen  to  the  floor.  After  that  there 
was  absolute  silence.  I  hastily  put  on  my  bath 
robe,  and  was  hurrying  out  to  find  a  policeman 
when  I  met  you. ' ' 

By  this  time,  Marsh,  with  Murphy  at  his  heels, 
had  reached  the  door  of  the  third  floor  apart- 
ment. Murphy  placed  a  thick  forefinger  on  the 
button  of  the  electric  bell  and  rang  it  sharply 
several  times.  The  men  could  distinctly  hear 
the  clear  notes  of  the  bell,  but  no  other  sound 
reached  them.  Again  Murphy  pressed  the  but- 
ton without  response. 

"Murder,  all  right,  I  guess,"  muttered  Mur- 
phy, "and  the  guy's  probably  slipped  down  the 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

back  stairs.  "Who  lives  here,  anyway?"  he  in- 
quired, turning  to  Marsh. 

" That's  the  peculiar  part  about  it,"  was  the 
reply.  "The  people  who  rent  this  apartment 
went  to  Europe  this  summer,  and  as  I  under- 
stand it,  they  won't  be  back  for  another  month. 
The  apartment  has  been  closed  all  summer. 
That  is  what  amazed  Mrs.  Marsh  and  myself 
when  we  heard  this  sound  above  us." 

"It  looks  like  we'll  have  to  break  in,"  said 
Murphy.  "Let  me  use  your  telephone." 

1 1  Certainly, ' '  agreed  Marsh,  and  led  the  way 
to  his  apartment. 

Murphy  sat  down  at  the  telephone.  His  hand 
was  on  the  receiver  when  he  suddenly  paused 
and  turned  to  Marsh.  "You  know,"  he  com- 
mented, half  meditatively,  "it's  funny  we 
haven't  seen  anybody  else  show  up  in  the  halls. 
I  heard  that  shot  way  down  at  Lawrence  Avenue. 
At  least  the  people  across  the  hall  ought  to  have 
been  waked  up  by  it.  Are  you  sure  it  was  in  this 
house?" 

"Why  certainly,"  retorted  Marsh.  "Didn't 
I  tell  you  that  we  heard  the  struggle  and  the  shot 
right  over  our  heads  1 ' ' 

"Well,  it  sure  takes  a  lot  to  disturb  some 
4 


,THE  SHOT 

people,"  said  Murphy,  as  he  placed  the  tele- 
phone receiver  to  his  ear  and  called  for  his  con- 
nection. After  some  words  he  got  his  precinct 
station. 

* '  Hello ! ' '  he  called.  ' ' Is  that  you,  Sergeant  ? 
This  is  Murphy.  I'm  in  the  Hitter est  apart- 
ments on  Sheridan  Eoad.  .  .  .  Yes,  that's  right. 
.  .  .  Just  north  of  Lawrence  Avenue.  I  think 
somebody's  been  murdered  and  we'll  have  to 
break  in.  Send  the  wagon,  will  you?  .  . .  Don't 
know  a  damn  thing  yet,"  he  added,  evidently  in 
reply  to  a  question.  "Hurry  up  the  wagon." 
He  replaced  the  receiver  on  its  hook;  then 
turned  to  Marsh  as  he  stood  up. 

"I  think  I'll  hang  around  the  door  up  there 
until  the  boys  come.  Much  obliged  for  your 
help.  You'd  better  get  back  to  bed  now." 

' ' Oh,  no, ' '  objected  Marsh.  ' ' I  couldn't  sleep 
with  all  this  excitement  going  on.  And  then — 
Mr.  Ames  is  a  friend  of  mine.  He  would  want 
me  to  look  after  things  for  him. " 

Murphy  looked  Marsh  over  in  evident  specu- 
lation. The  man  was  tall  and  broad  shouldered. 
His  face  was  clean  shaven.  The  features  were 
strong,  with  a  regularity  that  many  people 
would  consider  handsome.  He  was  what  one 

5 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

would  call  a  big  man,  but  this  appearance  of 
bigness  arose  more  from  a  heavy  frame,  and 
exceptional  muscular  development,  than  fleshi- 
ness. Murphy  took  in  these  details  quickly,  and 
the  pause  was  slight  before  he  spoke. 

"Who's  Ames?"  he  said. 

' '  The  man  who  rents  the  apartment  upstairs. ' ' 
Then  apparently  taking  the  matter  as  settled, 
Marsh  added,  *  'I'll  go  along  with  you. ' ' 

Murphy  grunted,  whether  in  assent  or  'dis- 
approval was  hard  to  tell,  but  as  he  climbed  the 
stairs  again,  Marsh  was  close  beside  him. 

Murphy  placed  his  hand  on  the  doorknob  and 
shook  the  door  as  he  violently  turned  the  knob. 
The  door  was  securely  locked.  Then  he  threw 
his  two  hundred  and  some  odd  pounds  against 
the  door  itself.  The  stout  oak  resisted  his  in- 
dividual efforts. 

"No  use,"  he  grumbled.  "I'll  have  to  wait 
'till  the  boys  come." 

The  two  men  then  sat  down  on  the  top  step  to 
wait  for  the  coming  of  the  police.  They  chatted, 
speculating  upon  the  possible  causes  of  the  dis- 
turbance. Marsh,  however,  seemed  more  inter- 
ested in  getting  Murphy's  ideas  than  in  express- 
ing opinions  of  his  own.  At  length  they  heard 

6 


THE  SHOT 

the  clang  of  the  gong  on  the  police  patrol  as  it 
crossed  Lawrence  Avenue.  They  stood  up  ex- 
pectantly. An  instant  later  there  was  a  clatter 
in  the  lower  hall  as  the  police  entered.  They 
mounted  the  stairs  rapidly — two  officers  in  uni- 
form and  another  in  civilian  clothes. 

"Where's  the  trouble?"  cried  the  latter,  as 
the  party  climbed  the  last  flight. 

"In  here,  as  far  as  I  know/'  returned  Mur- 
phy, as  he  jerked  a  thumb  over  his  shoulder 
toward  the  door  of  the  apartment.  "I  can't  get 
a  rise  out  of  anybody.  We'll  have  to  break  in." 

Marsh  stood  aside  while  the  four  men  took 
turns,  two-and-two,  in  throwing  themselves 
against  the  door.  It  creaked  and  groaned,  and 
from  time  to  time  there  was  a  sharp  crack  as  the 
strong  oak  began  to  give. 

In  the  meantime,  the  murmur  of  voices  came 
up  from  the  lower  floors.  Presently  faces  ap- 
peared on  the  landing  just  below  where  the  police 
were  working.  Marsh  leaned  over  the  rail  and 
in  a  few  words,  outlined  to  the  excited  tenants 
what  was  going  on. 

Intent  on  their  work  of  breaking  in  the  door, 
the  policemen  paid  little  attention  to  their  audi- 
ence, and  apparently  did  not  notice  that  the  door 

7 


THE  SHEKEDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

across  the  hall  was  still  closed  and  silent.  Mur- 
phy, however,  recalled  this  fact  later  on. 

At  last,  with  a  crash  and  a  splintering  of 
wood,  the  lock  gave  way  and  the  door  flew  open. 
All  was  darkness  and  silence  before  them. 

The  five  men  stood  grouped  in  the  doorway, 
listening  intently.  The  black  silence  remained 
unbroken  save  for  the  labored  breathing  of  the 
men  who  had  just  broken  in  the  door.  The  plain- 
clothes  man  then  brought  forth  an  electric  pocket 
lamp  and  flashed  its  rays  into  the  entrance  hall, 
while  the  others  drew  their  revolvers  and  held 
them  in  readiness.  Then  all  stepped  into  the 
hallway.  This  was  a  large,  square  entrance  way 
with  four  doorways  opening  from  it.  Two 
closed  doors  faced  them.  As  they  discovered 
later,  these  led  to  a  bedroom,  and  the  bathroom. 
The  others,  one  opening  toward  the  front  of  the 
apartment,  and  one  toward  the  rear,  were  wide 
archways  covered  with  heavy  velvet  portieres. 

The  plain-clothes  man  found  the  wall  switch 
and  turned  on  the  electric  light.  Instructing  one 
of  his  companions  to  watch  the  hall  door,  he  led 
the  others  in  a  search  of  the  apartment.  Seek- 
ing for  the  electric  light  buttons  aa  they  moved 
about  the  apartment,  the  men  soon  flooded  the 

8 


THE  SHOT 

rooms  with  light.  Each  man  with  revolver 
ready,  and  intent  on  searching  every  corner, 
none  of  them  gave  much  attention  to  the  fact 
that  Marsh  was  dogging  every  move,  appar- 
ently as  keenly  on  the  lookout  as  any  one  of  the 
party. 

Their  inspection  revealed  nothing  more  than 
that  the  apartment  was  apparently  in  the  same 
condition  as  its  tenant  had  left  it.  The  door  to 
the  outside  stairway  at  the  back  was  locked  and 
the  key  was  missing.  In  addition  to  the  regular 
lock  a  stout  bolt  was  in  place.  The  catches  on  all 
the  windows  were  properly  locked,  and  all  the 
shades  remained  drawn  down  close  to  the  sills. 
It  was  an  empty,  locked  apartment,  with  no  out- 
standing evidence  of  having  been  used  for  a  long 
time. 

The  police,  now  joined  by  the  man  lately  on 
watch  at  the  door,  stood  nonplussed  in  the 
kitchen.  The  plain-clothes  man  uttered  an  oath. 
Then  he  addressed  his  companions. 

"I've  seen  some  mighty  fishy  situations,  but 
this  trims  anything  I  ever  ran  up  against.  Ain  Jt 
been  just  hearing  things,  have  you,  Murphy?  A 
swig  of  this  home-made  hootch  does  upset  a  man 
dreadful,  sometimes." 

9 


Murphy  glared. 

* '  I  ain  't  never  touched  the  stuff,  '  '  he  bellowed. 
Then  added,  aggressively,  "You  know  damned 
well  I  wasn  't  the  only  one  to  hear  that  shot.  The 
tenant  downstairs  heard  it,  too.  It  was  him  that 
brought  me  in." 

"Well,  you  only  got  his  word  for  it  that  this  is 
where  the  shot  was  fired.  Maybe  he 's  trying  to 
cover  something  up." 

Murphy  started,  then  glanced  around. 

"Hell!"  he  exclaimed.  "Where's  that  guy 
gone  to,  anyway?" 

Marsh,  who  had  recently  been  close  at  their 
heels,  was  not  now  in  the  group.  Murphy  moved 
on  tiptoe  to  the  kitchen  door  and  listened.  On 
the  other  side  of  the  dining  room  was  the  door- 
way to  the  entrance  hall,  and  through  the  now 
drawn  curtains  this  space  was  visible.  Murphy 
could  see  that  both  these  rooms  were  deserted, 
but  an  occasional  swishing  sound  came  to  his 
ears.  Turning  to  the  waiting  group,  he  silently 
and  significantly  jerked  his  head  toward  the 
front  of  the  apartment.  Following  his  example, 
they  moved  cautiously  across  the  dining  room 
and  the  hall  and  stopped  at  the  door  of  the  liv- 
ing room. 

10 


THE  SHOT 

Marsh,  with  his  back  toward  them,  was  just 
in  the  act  of  pulling  a  heavy,  upholstered  chair 
back  into  position.  His  moving  of  similar  arti- 
cles of  furniture  had  made  the  sounds  heard  by 
Murphy. 

Stepping  suddenly  into  the  room,  Murphy  in- 
quired, with  a  note  of  sarcasm  in  his  voice, 
"Kind  of  busy,  ain't  you?" 

Marsh  turned  abruptly.  If  they  expected  to 
see  any  signs  of  confusion  on  his  face  they  were 
disappointed,  for  he  simply  smiled  cheerfully. 

"Just  following  out  a  line  of  thought,"  he 
answered. 

"What's  the  big  idea?"  asked  the  plain- 
clothes  man,  suspiciously,  as  he  also  stepped 
into  the  room  and  carefully  looked  over  the  man 
before  him. 

"Well,  detectives  in  novels  always  search 
minutely  for  things  which  may  not  be  apparent 
to  the  eye.  When  confronted  with  so  deep  a 
mystery  as  this  one,  I  thought  the  application  of 
a  little  of  the  story  book  stuff  might  do  no  harm. ' ' 

"Huh!"  snorted  the  plain-clothes  man,  as 
Marsh  finished  giving  this  information. 
"You're  more  than  commonly  interested  in  this 
affair,  ain't  you?" 

11 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

" Naturally/ '  agreed  Marsh.  "Remember,  I 
live  just  below,  and  wouldn't  like  to  be  mur- 
dered in  my  bed  some  night.  To  hear  a  murder 
over  your  head  is  a  bit  disconcerting." 

"How  the  devil  do  we  know  there's  been  a 
murder?"  shot  back  the  plain-clothes  man. 
".We've  only  got  your  word  for  it." 

"But  this  officer  also  heard  the  shot,"  and 
Marsh  turned  toward  Murphy.  "He  was  look- 
ing for  the  trouble  when  I  met  him." 

"  Yes, "  Murphy  admitted.  ' '  I  heard  the  shot, 
but  I  only  got  your  word  for  it  that  it  was  here. 
If  there  was  a  murder,  what  became  of  the 
body?" 

"That  is  for  you  gentlemen  to  find  out," 
Marsh  snapped  back,  now  evidently  alive  to  the 
fact  that  these  men  were  regarding  him  with 
something  approaching  suspicion.  "I  have  al- 
ready done  more  than  my  share  of  the  work.  I 
have  discovered  visible  proof  that  there  was  a 
murderf" 

This  information  startled  the  group  of  police- 
men. Hasty  glances  swept  the  room  for  a 
moment.  Then  the  plain-clothes  man  remarked, 
with  a  meaning  smile,  "Well,  I'm  from 
Missouri." 

12 


THE  SHOT 

Marsh  walked  over  to  where  the  policemen 
stood. 

1 '  Take  a  look  around, ' '  he  began.  '  *  There  are 
certain  accepted  ways  of  placing  the  furniture 
in  a  room.  When  there  is  a  radical  departure 
from  such  placing,  an  inquiring  mind  is  led  to 
wonder.  Notice  the  chair  I  was  just  moving.  It 
is  located  almost  in  the  center  of  the  room — 
obviously  not  its  regular  position.  So  why  was 
it  there!" 

"Say,  you'd  make  some  detective!"  came  in 
an  admiring  tone  from  Murphy.  The  others 
nodded  approval  of  the  remark. 

"I  began  to  examine  that  chair  and  its  sur- 
roundings carefully,"  continued  Marsh,  ignor- 
ing the  interruption.  He  then  moved  over  to 
the  chair,  and  added,  as  he  pulled  it  to  one  side, 
"I  moved  it  away  like  this.  Now,  look  at  the 
floor!" 

The  policemen  crowded  forward.  What 
Marsh  had  found  was  apparent  at  once.  On  the 
light  background  of  the  -rug  was  a  large,  dark 
spot  which  the  chair  had  covered.  The  plain- 
clothes  man  stooped  and  placed  his  hand  on  the 
spot.  It  felt  damp  to  the  touch,  and  as  he  stood 
erect  again,  holding  his  hand  under  the  light, 

13 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

they  all  saw  that  the  fingers  were  covered  with 
a  thin  film  of  red. 

1 '  Blood ! '  '  cried  Murphy. 

"Yep,"  affirmed  the  plain-clothes  man. 
"Fresh  blood!" 

Excited  exclamations  from  the  others  showed 
their  appreciation  of  the  discovery. 

Marsh  smiled. 

<fl  guess  that  looks  like  a  possible  murder," 
he  said. 

"The  chair  was  placed  there  to  cover  the  spot^ 
all  right,"  now  admitted  the  plain-clothes  man. 

"But  what  became  of  the  body?"  again 
questioned  Murphy. 

"As  I  said  before,"  Marsh  answered  him, 
"that  is  for  you  to  find  out.  It  is  not  my  busi- 
ness." 

" Some  mystery!"  exclaimed  the  plain-clothes 
man.  "This  is  a  job  for  Dave  Morgan," 


14 


CHAPTEB  n 

DETECTIVE  SERGEANT  MORGAN 

ON  SHEFFIELD  AVENUE,  just  across 
from  the  ball  park,  where  the  "Cubs," 
Chicago's  famous  baseball  team,  has  its 
headquarters,  is  a  row  of  apartment  houses.  One 
realizes,  of  course,  that  these  are  not  homes  of 
wealth,  but  they  have  a  comfortable,  substantial 
look,  which  somehow  conveys  the  idea  that  those 
who  live  there  are  good  citizens,  typical  of  the 
hard-working,  progressive  class  that  has  made 
Chicago  one  of  the  greatest  commercial  cities 
of  the  world. 

In  one  of  these  apartments  lived  Detective 
Sergeant  Dave  Morgan  and  his  mother.  He 
had  located  here  in  the  days  when,  as  a  patrol- 
man, he  had  walked  beat  out  of  the  Town  Hall 
Police  Station,  a  short  distance  away.  After 
his  promotion  to  the  detective  force,  he  re- 
mained here  because  of  the  convenient  location. 
The  elevated  railroad  had  its  right  of  way 

15 


THE  SHEEIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

directly  back  of  his  home,  and  the  Addis  on 
Street  station  was  only  around  the  corner.  He 
could  quickly  get  to  the  Detective  Bureau  or 
almost  any  part  of  the  widespreading  city. 

Morgan's  home  was  unpretentious  but  com- 
fortable. The  hand  of  a  careful  and  thoughtful 
housekeeper  was  in  evidence  everywhere.  In 
the  big  living  room,  at  the  front,  were  several 
lounging  chairs,  and  along  one  wall,  between  the 
front  windows  and  the  entrance  door,  stood  two 
roomy  bookcases.  A  glance  at  the  titles  showed 
the  owner's  inquiring  and  investigative  turn  of 
mind.  His  interest  in  his  profession  was  also 
indicated  by  several  volumes  on  criminology, 
and  even  popular  detective  stories  of  the  day. 
In  the  center  of  the  room  was  a  commodious 
table  with  a  large  reading  lamp.  Beside  the 
table  was  the  big  easy  chair  in  which  Morgan 
always  sat,  and  where  many  of  the  solutions  of 
difficult  criminal  problems  Had  been  worked  out 
by  bim.  Just  across  from  this  easy  chair,  and 
within  reach  of  an  outstretched  hand,  stood  a 
tabouret,  holding  the  telephone. 

On  the  morning  following  the  peculiar  occur- 
rence on  Sheridan  Road,  Morgan  was  sitting  in 
his  favorite  chair.  His  slippered  feet  were 

16 


DETECTIVE  SERGEANT  MORGAN, 

stretched  before  him  and  clouds  of  smoke  hung 
about  as  he  puffed  at  his  favorite  pipe,  selected 
from  a  row  of  about  ten  that  were  hanging  on  a 
nearby  home-made  pipe  holder.  This  might  be 
said  to  be  an  eventful  day  for  Dave  Morgan. 
Only  the  day  before,  he  and  his  partner,  Detec- 
tive Sergeant  Tierney,  had  completed  the  solv- 
ing of  a  baffling  case  and  placed  the  criminal 
behind  the  bars.  Now  he  had  a  well-earned  and 
long-awaited  "day  off,"  and  he  was  going  to 
devote  it  to  the  restful  pursuit  of  his  favorite 
amusement — reading. 

His  mother,  a  white-haired,  pleasant  faced 
little  woman,  entered  the  room. 

"Dave,"  she  reminded  him,  "here's  the 
morning  paper.  You  forgot  to  look  it  over  at 
breakfast." 

"I  know,  Mother,"  he  returned,  "but  I 
wanted  to  forget  all  about  the  world  this  morn- 
ing. That  Brock  case  has  tired  me  out. ' ' 

"But,"  she  protested,  "I  notice  from  the 
headlines  that  there  was  a  big  murder  on  Sheri- 
dan Road  last  night.  I  didn't  think  you'd  want 
to  miss  the  details  of  that." 

Professional  instinct  was  too  strong.  Morgan 
reached  for  the  paper  and  glanced  quickly  over 

17 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

the  glaring  headlines  and  the  few  words  below, 
while  the  mother  proudly  watched  him. 

Morgan  made  a  good  figure  for  a  detective. 
Not  so  tall  as  to  be  conspicuous,  his  breadth  of 
shoulder  and  depth  of  chest  clearly  showed  that 
he  possessed  the  strength  to  meet  most  of  the 
emergencies  into  which  his  work  might  lead  him. 
His  face  had  none  of  the  hardened  sharpness 
that  usually  marks  the  detective.  In  fact,  al- 
though he  was  nearly  thirty,  his  face  still  had  a 
boyish  look  that  made  him  appear  younger,  and 
taken  with  his  sleek  dark  hair  and  mild  brown 
eyes  one  would  have  presumed  him  to  be  just  an 
average  young  business  man  rather  than  a 
hunter  of  criminals. 

"No  details  here,"  he  said,  a  moment  later, 
laying  the  paper  on  the  table.  * '  They  evidently 
received  the  notice  just  before  going  to  press. 
Anyway,  there  is  seldom  much  mystery  about 
a  murder.  The  men  in  that  precinct  proba- 
bly have  a  line  on  who  did  it  by  this 
time." 

'''  Yes,  I  know  they  use  my  boy  only  for  the  big 
cases,"  asserted  the  mother,  and  giving  him  an 
affectionate  pat  on  the  head,  she  went  to  her 
housework,  while  Morgan  took  a  book  from  one 

is 


DETECTIVE  SEEGEANT  MOEGAN 

of  the  cases,  refilled  his  pipe,  and  settled  down 
to  spend  a  quiet  morning  in  the  big  chair. 

At  eleven  o'clock  the  telephone  bell  rang. 
Only  a  few  words  passed  between  Morgan  and 
his  caller,  but  the  detective's  face  lighted  up 
with  interest.  The  instant  he  replaced  the  re- 
ceiver he  sprang  to  his  feet,  went  to  his  bedroom, 
and  hurriedly  changed  his  clothes. 

"Mother,"  he  called.  "The  Chief  has  just 
'phoned  me  that  they  have  the  biggest  case  for 
me  that  I  ever  handled.  I  must  go  down  at 
once." 

His  mother  came  to  the  door  of  the  room. 
"Can't  you  even  wait  for  a  bite  of  lunch?"  she 
questioned. 

"No,"  he  explained,  "it  is  a  hurry  call.  The 
Chief  says  we  cannot  lose  a  minute  in  getting 
started.  I'll  have  to  stop  in  somewhere  after  I 
see  the  Chief." 

Kissing  his  mother  good-bye,  Morgan  hurried 
around  to  the  elevated  station.  Fifteen  minutes 
later  he  opened  the  Chief's  office  door. 

"Sit  down,  Morgan,"  said  the  Chief,  waving 
his  hand  toward  a  chair.  "I've  got  a  case  here 
that'll  make  even  you  go  some." 

As  Morgan  sat  down  the  Chief  gathered  up 
19 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

some  typewritten  sheets  from  his  desk,  and  con- 
tinued; "I  didn't  like  to  break  up  the  first  day 
you've  had  off  in  a  long  time,  Morgan,  but  there 
was  a  murder  on  Sheridan  Road  last  night — or 
early  this  morning,  to  be  exact — that  has  put  a 
real  mystery  up  to  the  Department.  It  '11  need  a 
man  like  you  to  solve  it — if  it  can  be  solved. 
The  newspapers  had  big  headlines  this  morning, 
and  the  public  will  be  watching  us  on  account  of 
the  peculiar  nature  of  the  crime.'* 

"I  saw  something  about  it  in  my  paper  this 
morning,"  said  Morgan.  "There  were  no  de- 
tails, however.  The  notice  probably  caught  the 
last  edition  with  little  more  than  the  fact  that  a 
murder  had  been  committed. '  * 

"Well,"  exclaimed  the  Chief,  "it's  one  of  the 
biggest  mysteries  we've  ever  had  handed  to  us. 
The  shot  was  heard  by  both  the  man  on  the  beat 
and  a  tenant  in  the  building,  but  outside  of  the 
stories  of  these  two  men,  and  the  discovery  of  a 
blood  stain  on  a  rug  in  a  supposedly  empty  flat, 
not  another  thing  has  been  found.  The  body  is 
missing,  and  there  is  no  trace  of  how  it  got  out  of 
the  flat  or  where  it  is  now.  Here  is  a  report  of 
all  that  we  know  so  far.  By  the  way,  your 
partner  Tierney  made  this  report.  He  hap- 

20 


DETECTIVE  SEBGEANT  MORGAN 

pened  to  be  on  the  job  last  night,  so  I  told  him  to 
stick  to  it. " 

The  Chief  handed  the  typewritten  sheets  to 
Morgan. 

"You  will  note,"  he  went  on,  "that  the  man 
on  beat  heard  a  shot  at  about  2  A.  M.  ;  that  he  met 
a  tenant  from  the  house  who  said  that  he  had 
heard  sounds  of  a  struggle,  a  shot,  and  some- 
thing like  the  falling  of  a  body.  The  police 
found  the  flat  locked,  and  after  they  broke  in 
could  find  no  one  on  the  premises.  Nothing  was 
upset,  and  there  were  no  signs  of  the  struggle, 
said  to  have  taken  place.  Another  peculiar 
thing  is  that  the  police  even  overlooked  the 
bloodstain  until  the  tenant  who  had  heard  the 
shot  called  their  attention  to  it.  Tierney  tried 
to  get  some  more  details  this  morning,  but  you 
will  find  from  his  report  that  none  of  the  other 
tenants  admit  hearing  the  shot ;  that  the  tenant 
in  the  flat  across  the  hall  was  apparently  not  at 
home,  and  that  the  janitor  says  the  people  who 
rent  the  flat  in  which  the  trouble  occurred,  have 
been  away  all  summer.  The  only  really  definite 
information  of  any  kind  comes  from  this  one 
tenant,  Marsh. 

"You'll  probably  find  Tierney  at  the  flat,  as 
21 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

I  sent  him  back  after  he  had  turned  in  this 
report.  He  may  have  found  out  something  more 
by  now  than  he  could  put  in  that  quick  report. ' ' 

"Chief,"  said  Morgan,  as  he  thumbed  over 
the  typewritten  sheets  in  his  hands,  "you  say 
there  has  been  a  murder  committed  here.  With 
this  tenant,  Marsh,  and  a  patrolman,  getting 
into  action  so  soon  after  the  shot,  a  body  couldn't 
possibly  be  moved  out  of  the  house — certainly, 
not  without  leaving  some  trace. ' ' 

"Well!" 

"How  do  we  know  there  was  a  murder?" 

"We  don't  know — positively,"  returned  the 
Chief.  "But  we're  not  going  to  take  any 
chances.  Even  if  there  wasn't  an  actual  mur- 
der, something  of  a  criminal  nature  was  pulled 
off  in  that  -flat  last  night.  What  it  was,  we're 
putting  up  to  you  to  find  out.  Go  to  it,  Morgan ! 
So  long!" 


22 


CHAPTER 


ZNTESTIGATIOST 

LEAVING  the  Detective  Bureau,  Morgan 
stopped  in  a   restaurant   on   Randolph 
Street  for  a  quick  lunch.    From  there  he 
walked  over  to  State  Street  and  took  the  motor 
bus  for  the  scene  of  the  singular  event  which  it 
was  now  his  duty  to  investigate.    A  half  -hour 
later  he  dropped  off  the  bus  at  Lawrence  Avenue 
and  Sheridan  Road.    A  few  steps  brought  him 
to  the  Hillcrest  apartments,  where  he  found 
Tierney  waiting  on  the  front  steps  for  him. 

"The  Chief  telephoned  me  that  you  would 
probably  be  here  about  this  time,  '  '  said  Tierney, 
after  acknowledging  Morgan's  greeting.  "I 
was  on  the  job  last  night,  and  did  a  little  investi- 
gating this  morning,  so  the  Chief  thought  you 
might  want  to  talk  things  over  with  me.'* 

Morgan  nodded.  '  *  All  right,  let  's  go  up.  Can 
we  get  into  the  flat?" 

"Sure,"  answered  Tierney.  "We  put  a 
temporary  padlock  on  this  morning,  and  I  have 
the  key." 

23 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

"Without  further  words  the  two  men  climbed 
the  stairs  to  the  apartment  on  the  third  floor. 
Tierney  unlocked  the  padlock  and  they  went  in. 
Inside  the  entrance  hall  of  the  apartment, 
Tierney  turned  to  Morgan. 

"I  suppose  the  Chief  has  put  the  case  entirely 
in  your  hands,  so  it's  up  to  you  what  you  want  to 
do  first." 

"We  had  better  go  into  the  front  room  here," 
answered  Morgan,  "and  let  me  get  a  line  on 
things.  About  all  I  know  so  far  is  that  some- 
body thinks  a  murder  has  been  committed." 

"You  can't  make  much  out  of  things  as  they 
are,  that's  a  fact,"  assented  Tierney,  as  they 
moved  into  the  front  room.  He  dropped  into  an 
easy  chair  close  at  hand,  and  pushed  his  cap 
back  on  his  head,  while  Morgan  went  to  one  of 
the  front  windows  and  ran  the  shade  to  the  top. 
Seating  himself  where  he  could  get  the  full 
benefit  of  the  light  from  the  window,  he  drew  out 
the  typewritten  report  and  read  it  over  care- 
fully. 

"This  is  your  report,  isn't  it,  Tierney?"  he 
inquired,  folding  up  the  sheets  again  and  re- 
placing them  in  his  pocket. 

"You  bet;  and  I  put  into  it  every  damned 
24 


INVESTIGATION 

thing  I  know,"  asserted  Tierney.  "And  that's 
mighty  little,"  he  added.  "This  is  the  most 
mysterious  case  I  ever  saw." 

There  was  a  pause  while  Morgan  drew  a  pipe 
from  his  pocket  and  filled  and  lighted  it.  Then 
settling  back  in  his  chair,  he  looked  at  Tierney. 

"Got  any  theories?"  he  asked. 

"No,"  replied  Tierney.  "I  haven't  any 
theories — but  I've  got  a  couple  of  suspicions." 

"Well?" 

"One,"  continued  Tierney,  "is  this  flat  across 
the  hall.  Murphy — that's  the  man  on  the  beat 
who  heard  the  shot  and  investigated — Murphy 
noticed  that  in  spite  of  all  the  racket  we  made 
breaking  down  the  door  last  night,  no  one  in 
that  flat  showed  any  interest.  I  tried  to  get  in 
touch  with  them  this  morning.  Nothing  doing. 
Either  they  weren't  home,  or  wouldn't  answer 
the  bell." 

"That  looks  bad,"  commented  Morgan.  "You 
mentioned  in  your  report  that  you  talked  with 
the  janitor.  Did  he  drop  anything  about  them 
that  yon  didn't  think  worth  while  putting  in  the 
report?" 

"The  janitor  simply  told  me  that  a  man  and 
his  daughter  lived  in  the  flat,  and  that  he  thought 

25 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

the  man  was  away  a  good  deal ;  so  he  supposed 
he  must  be  a  traveling  man.  They  have  always 
seemed  to  be  quiet  people.  He  has  never  even 
seen  them  have  any  company." 

"That's  suspicious,  too,"  declared  Morgan. 
"Normal  people  usually  have  some  company. 
Is  that  all?" 

Tierney  nodded. 

"Now,"  prompted  Morgan,  "you  said  you 
had  another  suspicion." 

"You  bet!"  exclaimed  Tierney,  straightening 
up  in  his  chair.  ' '  That  guy,  Marsh — underneath 
here." 

"  'Great  minds',"  laughed  Morgan.  "I  sort 
of  focused  on  that  man  myself  after  reading 
your  report  just  now. ' ' 

""Well,  here's  the  way  I  look  at  it,"  explained 
Tierney.  "When  ordinary  folks  hear  fighting 
and  shooting  in  the  middle  of  the  night,  they 
generally  stick  their  heads  under  the  covers  and 
lie  close.  They  don't  put  on  bath  robes  and  run 
out  on  the  street  to  be  the  first  to  give  a  report. 
Then  the  janitor  tells  me  that  he's  seen  this 
man  around  a  lot  in  the  daytime — 'no  visible 
means  of  support,'  you  might  say.  Both  Mur- 
phy and  I  remember  that  Marsh  referred  to  his 

26 


INVESTIGATION 

wife.  The  janitor  says  he's  pretty  sure  that  he 
never  saw  any  woman  around  the  flat.  And 
when  I  asked  Marsh  this  morning  to  let  me  talk 
to  his  wife,  he  said  she  was  not  in. 

''You  probably  noticed  in  my  report  that  it 
was  this  Marsh  who  showed  us  the  bloodstain 
under  the  chair.  You  know,  we  came  out  of  the 
kitchen  and  caught  that  guy  in  the  act  of  pulling 
a  chair  over  the  spot.  He  said  he  was  replacing 
the  chair  where  he  found  it.  I've  been  wonder- 
ing whether  he  wasn't  actually  covering  upi 
the  spot  himself.  "When  we  caught  him  in 
the  act,  maybe  he  just  decided  to  bluff 
it  out." 

"The  Department  didn't  make  any  mistake 
when  they  shifted  you  into  the  Detective  Bureau, 
Tierney,"  said  Morgan,  laughing.  "Has  the 
Chief  assigned  you  to  any  other  case  for  my  day 
off?" 

"No,"  replied  Tierney.  "When  the  Chief 
told  me  to  come  back  and  meet  you  here  I  figured 
he  wanted  me  to  stick  to  this  case  with 
you." 

"So  I  thought,"  agreed  Morgan.  "But  I 
want  to  be  left  alone  here  for  awhile.  You  scout 
around  and  see  if  you  can  find  out  something 

27 


( 


THE  SHERIDAN  EOAD  MYSTERY 

more  about  this  tenant  across  the  hall.  Do  you 
know  his  name  ? ' ' 

' '  Clark  Atwood,  it  says  on  the  mail  box  down- 
stairs." 

"All  right,  Tierney.  See  what  you  can  look 
up  in  this  neighborhood.  I'll  get  in  touch  with 
you  later.  By  the  way,  you  had  better  leave 
that  key  with  me." 

Tierney  handed  over  the  key  to  the  padlock, 
and  with  a  cheery  "So  long,"  started  off. 

Morgan,  left  to  himself,  began  a  careful  in- 
spection of  the  apartment.  Although  assured 
that  the  apartment  had  been  unoccupied,  his  first 
act  was  to  discover,  if  possible,  any  signs  of 
recent  habitation.  Convinced  by  the  blood  spot 
that  the  principal  part  of  whatever  had  hap- 
pened had  taken  place  in  the  front  room,  he 
decided  to  leave  that  room  until  the  last.  Run- 
ning all  the  shades  to  the  top  of  the  windows  as 
he  passed  from  the  front  to  the  rear  of  the 
apartment,  Morgan  made  the  place  as  light  as 
possible.  He  began  his  examination  with  the 
kitchen.  The  fastenings  on  the  windows  were 
closed,  and  the  undisturbed  condition  of  the 
dust  indicated  that  they  had  not  been  touched 
for  a  long  period.  A  careful  inspection  of  the 

28 


INVESTIGATION 

glass  and  [woodwork  showed  no  finger  marks  or 
any  attempt  to  open  the  catches.  The  bolt  on 
the  back  door  was  unfastened,  but  as  the  report 
stated  that  the  police  had  found  this  bolt  in  place, 
it  was  obvious  that  it  had  simply  been  left  open 
by  the  police.  Morgan  carefully  scrutinized  the 
condition  of  the  bolt.  After  pushing  it  back  into 
place  the  difference  in  brightness  of  the  pro- 
jected and  unprotected  parts  convinced  him  that 
the  bolt  had  been  closed  for  some  time. 

He  also  noted  that  the  key  was  missing  from 
the  lock.  However,  this  fact  had  been  referred 
to  in  the  report,  and  it  could  make  little  differ- 
ence if  the  bolt  itself  had  been  fastened.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  during  his  search  of  the  pantry, 
he  discovered  the  key  on  top  of  the  ice  box.  A 
layer  of  dust  indicated  that  the  key  had  not  been 
touched  for  a  long  time.  His  thorough  investi- 
gation of  the  pantry  revealed  no  evidence  of 
recent  use.  The  ice  box  was  dry  as  a  bone,  with 
the  musty  smell  of  long  disuse.  A  touch  of  the 
finger  on  various  dishes  and  pieces  of  glass- 
ware showed  that  these  also  were  covered  with 
a  film  of  dust. 

Before  leaving  the  kitchen,  Morgan  glanced 
into  the  sink,  to  ascertain  if,  as  often  happens, 

29 


the  murderer  had  washed  his  hands  there. 
There  was  a  reddish  stain  about  the  ontlet,  but 
as  Morgan  found  this  covered  with  dust  he  sur- 
mised that  a  long  time  had  elapsed  since  any 
water  had  been  run  in  the  sink.  This  stain  was 
presumably  the  rust  which  usually  gathers  in  a 
long  unused  sink  or  basin. 

The  small  maid's  room  off  the  kitchen  had 
certainly  not  been  in  use.  Only  the  bare  mat- 
tress was  on  the  bed,  and  Morgan  noticed  that 
as  his  own  feet  left  imprints  in  the  dust  on  the 
floor,  it  was  not  likely  that  anyone  else  could 
have  been  in  the  room  without  leaving  similar 
traces. 

Next  he  thoroughly  searched  the  dining  room. 
As  this  room  usually  seems  to  be  the  favorite 
gathering  point,  both  for  the  occupants  of  a 
house  and  unbidden  prowlers,  Morgan's  keen 
eyes  examined  every  detail  of  the  floor  and  fur- 
nishings, including  the  drawers  of  the  side- 
board. He  immediately  noticed  that  two  of  the 
chairs  were  standing  close  to  the  table,  while 
two  others  were  moved  slightly  back  from  the 
table  as  if  people  had  been  sitting  in  them.  On 
the  floor  under  one  of  these  chairs  he  found  a 
few  spots  of  cigarette  ashes.  To  Morgan's 

30 


INVESTIGATION 

quick  mind  this  carried  a  mental  picture.  Of 
course,  the  police  who  had  been  in  the  apartment 
the  night  before  might  have  accidentally  or  in- 
tentionally moved  the  chairs,  but  he  was  quite 
sure  that  under  the  circumstances  not  one  of 
them  would  have  sat  down  to  smoke  a  cigarette. 
At  some  time  quite  recently,  therefore,  some- 
body, probably  two  persons,  had  sat  at  this  din- 
ing room  table  while  conversing,  or  waiting  for 
something. 

This  was  further  confirmed  when  Morgan, 
bending  his  knees  and  lowering  his  body  so  as  to 
bring  his  eyes  on  a  level  with  the  table,  studied 
the  top  in  the  reflected  light.  He  saw  that  the 
dust  on  the  table  top  had  been  disturbed  in  front 
of  the  two  chairs.  Furthermore,  he  discovered 
that  the  person  who  had  not  been  smoking  had 
evidently  rested  a  pair  of  clasped  and  sweaty 
hands  on  the  table  top,  as  two  parallel,  greasy 
marks,  made  by  the  sides  of  the  hands,  showed 
quite  plainly.  To  Morgan,  clasped  and  sweaty 
hands  indicated  a  possible  state  of  nervousness. 
Either  this  had  been  the  victim  or  the '  chief 
plotter. 

The  dining  room  revealed  nothing  further  to 
Morgan,  but  he  felt  that  he  had  made  some 

31 


THE  SHEBIDAN  EOAD  MYSTERY 

progress  in  establishing  the  fact  that  at  least 
two  people  had  quite  recently  been  in  this  sup- 
posedly unoccupied  apartment. 

Passing  through  the  entrance  hall,  Morgan 
then  examined  the  main  bedroom,  which  opened 
off  of  it.  The  bed  had  been  dismantled,  as  in  the 
maid's  room.  An  examination  of  the  clothes 
closet,  and  the  drawers  of  the  dresser  and  a 
chiffonier,  showed  that  the  room  was  commonly 
occupied  by  a  man  and  a  woman.  Everything 
quite  obviously  belonged  to  the  regular  tenant. 
Morgan  could  find  nothing  of  a  suspicious 
nature,  although  he  had  particularly  looked  for 
correspondence  which  might  in  some  indefinite 
way  connect  this  tenant  with  the  happenings  of 
the  night  before. 

The  bathroom  was  visited  next.  Outside  of 
the  usual  toilet  articles  and  harmless  medical 
"first  aids  "  in  the  cabinet,  the  room  was  bare. 

The  final  step  was  a  close  examination  of  the 
front  room.  Here  the  blood  spot  stood  out  dark 
and  forbidding  in  the  light  of  the  afternoon  sun. 
Beyond  the  fact  that  the  shot  had  taken  effect, 
it  told  nothing.  Morgan  stood  in  thought  with 
his  eyes  resting  upon  the  brick  fireplace.  Sud- 
denly the  descending  sun  threw  its  rays  farther 

32 


INVESTIGATION 

into  the  room  and  rested  on  a  bright  spot  at  the 
side  of  the  fireplace.  It  looked  odd  to  Morgan 
and  he  approached  it.  What  he  found  was  a 
flattened  bullet,  which  had  been  held  in  place  by; 
slightly  embedding  itself  in  the  rough  surface 
of  the  brick.  As  evidence  it  had  small  value 
outside  of  confirming  the  fact  that  a  shot  had 
been  actually  fired  in  this  apartment. 

Finding  nothing  else  with  a  bearing  on  the 
case,  Morgan  started  to  leave.  At  the  doorway 
to  the  entrance  hall,  he  stopped  and  turned  to 
take  one  last  look  around  the  room  in  the  hope 
that  something  might  suggest  itself.  As  he 
stood  making  this  last  survey,  his  eye  caught  a 
faint  point  of  light  under  a  cabinet  in  a  corner. 
Instantly  he  returned  to  the  room,  and  stooping 
down,  ran  his  hand  under  the  cabinet.  His 
fingers  seized  on  a  small  object,  which  proved  to 
be  a  gold  cuff  button.  As  he  turned  it  over  in 
his  hand  he  found  the  initial  "M"  deeply  en- 
graved in  the  heavy  gold. 

Eemembering  that  he  had  learned  from  the 
report  in  his  pocket  that  the  name  of  the  tenant 
of  this  apartment  was  Ames,  this  discovery  im- 
mediately assumed  great  importance,  so  Morgan 
carefully  placed  the  cuff  button  in  a  vest  pocket. 

33 


THE  SHERIDAN  BOAD  MYSTEEY 

Encouraged  by  his  find,  Morgan  made  another 
careful  examination  of  the  room.  The  flattened 
bullet  and  the  cuff  button,  revealed  by  friendly 
rays  of  sunlight,  seemed  to  be  all  that  he  could 
find. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  APARTMENT  ACROSS  THE  HALL 

AFTER  replacing  the  padlock  and  snap- 
ping it  closed,  Morgan  pressed  the  elec- 
tric button  of  the  apartment  across  the 
hall.  Footsteps  sounded  in  immediate  response, 
and  the  next  moment  the  door  was  furtively 
opened.  Morgan,  who  by  that  time  was  leaning 
carelessly  against  the  jamb,  quietly  moved  one 
foot  forward  into  the  opening. 

Although  the  light  in  the  hallway  was  dim  he 
could  see  that  the  woman  who  stood  there  was 
young  and  remarkably  pretty.  Removing  his 
hat,  he  asked  politely,  "Are  you  the  tenant 
here?" 

"Yes,"  came  in  a  soft  but  nervous  voice. 

"May  I  come  in  and  talk  with  you  a  few 
minutes  ? ' '  inquired  Morgan. 

"What  is  it  you  want?"  the  girl  inquired. 

Morgan  threw  back  his  coat  and  disclosed  his 
badge.  "I  am  a  city  detective,  and  I  would 

35 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

like  a  few  words  with  you  about  this  affair 
across  the  hall." 

"What  affair  is  that?"  asked  the  girl. 

Morgan  smiled.  '  *  Didn  't  you  know  there  wa» 
some  trouble  across  the  hall  last  night?" 

"No,"  she  returned.  "I  retired  early  and 
have  heard  nothing  about  it." 

Morgan  was  at  a  loss  for  a  moment.  The  girl 
was  not  of  the  type  that  one  would  associate 
with  persons  of  a  criminal  sort.  Her  replies 
had  been  given  in  a  tone  of  voice  so  candid  and 
wondering  that  it  hardly  seemed  possible  she 
could  be  acting.  Whatever  the  situation,  how- 
ever, Morgan  wanted  to  get  inside  this  apart- 
ment and  study  the  girl  more  closely. 

"Well,  I'll  tell  you  all  about  it,"  he  said, 
gently,  "if  you'll  let  me  come  in  for  a  moment 
or  two." 

"I  know  nothing  about  it,"  she  maintained, 
with  a  touch  of  irritation  in  her  voice,  and  Mor- 
gan's foot  signaled  to  him  that  she  was  attempt- 
ing to  close  the  door. 

Morgan  never  liked  to  be  rough  in  his 
methods.  He  hesitated  over  forcing  himself 
into  the  presence  of  this  young  woman,  and  yet 
he  now  had  an  impression  that  an  interview  with 

36 


THE  APARTMENT  ACROSS  THE  HALL 

Her  was  imperative.  There  was  a  slight  pause, 
as  he  ran  over  in  his  mind  some  way  to  gain  his 
entrance  without  force. 

"Do  you  know  Mr.  Marsh  downstairs?"  he 
inquired,  suddenly,  his  eyes  keeping  a  keen 
watch  on  her  face. 

'  'I  do  not  know  any  of  the  tenants  in  the  build- 
ing." 

"That's  strange,"  said  Morgan,  thoughtfully. 
"I  was  just  talking  with  Mr.  Marsh,  and  he  told 
me  that  you  knew  all  about  the  trouble  last  night. 
He  suggested  that  if  I  would  come  and  see  you  I 
could  get  just  the  information  I  wanted." 

"I  don't  know  this  Mr.  Marsh,  and  I  can't 
understand  why  he  should  make  such  a  state- 
ment. ' '  Surprise  was  apparent  in  her  voice. 

Morgan  was  quite  sure  that  her  surprise  was 
genuine.  At  the  same  time  his  remarks  had  just 
the  effect  he  had  hoped  they  would.  It  brought 
a  new  element  into  the  matter  and  added  to  the 
girl's  natural  curiosity.  She  opened  the  door 
wider,  and  nodding  toward  the  front  room,  said, 
"Step  in  and  tell  me  what  you  wish  to  know." 

The  room  into  which  Morgan  entered  was  a 
counterpart  of  the  one  across  the  hall,  though  as 
he  rapidly  observed  the  furnishings,  he  was  im- 

37 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

pressed  with  the  greater  taste  displayed  and  the 
homelike  atmosphere.  A  piece  of  embroidery, 
on  which  she  had  evidently  been  working,  lay  on 
the  arm  of  a  chair  near  the  window. 

Conjecturing  that  she  would  resume  her  seat 
in  this  chair,  Morgan  seated  himself  where  he 
could  keep  his  back  to  the  window,  while  the 
girl  whom  he  was  about  to  question  would  direct- 
ly face  the  full  light.  Morgan's  guess  was 
correct.  The  girl  went  directly  to  the  chair  she 
had  left  to  answer  his  ring,  and  taking  up  her 
embroidery,  picked  nervously  at  its  edges,  mean- 
while watching  Morgan  expectantly. 

Surmising  that  a  direct  attempt  to  question 
her  at  once  might  defeat  his  purpose,  Morgan 
immediately  broke  into  an  account  of  the  pre- 
vious night's  occurrence.  As  he  brought  out 
the  various  details  of  what  was  reported  to  have 
taken  place,  he  slyly  watched  her  face.  At  the 
end  of  his  recital,  he  felt  convinced  that  what  he 
told  the  girl  had  previously  been  unknown  to 
her.  Moreover,  Morgan  became  sensible  of  a 
growing  feeling  of  interest  and  confidence  in  the 
girl.  Her  sweetness  seemed  so  genuine,  her 
dark  blue  eyes  so  frank  and  honest  in  the 
straightforward  way  they  met  his. 

38 


THE  APARTMENT  ACROSS  THE  HALL 

"It  seems  very  strange  that  I  heard  none  of  the 
excitement,"  remarked  the  girl,  when  Morgan 
had  finished  his  story.  ' '  I  had  a  rather  busy  day 
yesterday  with  my  studies  and  retired  early." 

Morgan  had  decided  upon  his  line  of  question- 
ing while  relating  the  incidents  of  the  night  be- 
fore. 

1 '  May  I  ask  your  name  ? ' ' 

"Certainly,"  she  replied.  "My  name  is  At- 
wood." 

Morgan,  having  noticed  the  absence  of  a  wed- 
ding ring,  assumed  that  she  was  unmarried. 
Therefore,  he  said,  "Is  your  mother  at  home, 
Miss  Atwood?" 

A  shade  of  sadness  passed  over  her  face.  * l  My 
mother  died  some  months  ago,"  she  replied. 

' '  I  am  sorry.  I  know  what  it  is  to  have  a  good 
mother,"  sympathized  Morgan.  Then  he  in- 
quired, "Perhaps  your  father  heard  the  dis- 
turbance ? ' ' 

* '  Oh  no, ' '  she  replied.    '  *  My  father  is  away. ' ' 

"He  travels?" 

"Yes;  my  father  is  a  salesman." 

"For  some  Chicago  house,  I  suppose." 

"No;  for  a  business  house  in  St.  Louis.  We 
formerly  lived  there." 

39 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

"St.  Louis  is  a  pleasant  city,"  commented 
Morgan.  * '  Still,  many  people  prefer  Chicago. ' ' 

"Oh,  I  think  I  should  prefer  to  live  in  St. 
Louis,  because  I  have  a  few  friends  there,"  she 
said.  "But  I  am  studying  music,  and  when  my 
mother  died,  father  suggested  that  I  live  in 
Chicago  where  I  could  attend  a  better  musical 
college.  Then,  too,  father  could  get  home  more 
often  as  he  travels  in  this  vicinity." 

"I  suppose  your  father  travels  for  some  well 
known  St.  Louis  house?"  suggested  Morgan. 

"Well,  really,  I  don't  know  the  name  of  his 
firm,"  returned  the  girl.  "Business  has  never 
held  any  interest  for  me." 

It  struck  Morgan  as  strange  that  even  a  girl 
who  did  not  take  an  interest  in  business  should 
be  ignorant  of  the  name  of  the  firm  by  whom  her 
father  was  employed,  yet  he  seemed  to  find 
many  things  that  were  contradictory  in  this 
girl.  The  chatty  line  of  conversation  he  had 
taken  was  bringing  out  information  in  a  manner 
highly  satisfactory  to  Morgan.  He  was  about 
to  make  another  comment,  that  might  elicit 
further  facts,  when  he  was  interrupted  by  a 
question  which  he  had  been  expecting. 

"Tell  me,"  inquired  Miss  Atwood,  a  slight 
40 


color  coining  to  her  cheeks,  "what  this  man 
Marsh  said  about  me." 

Morgan  was  pleased.  This  gave  him  an  open- 
ing for  some  questioning  which  he  had  hesitated 
to  take  up  before.  He  wanted  to  know  just  how 
much  this  girl  knew  about  Marsh.  "Don't  you 
really  know  Mr.  Marsh?"  he  began. 

' '  No, ' '  she  replied.  ' '  I  didn  't  even  know  there 
was  such  a  person  in  the  house." 

"Well,  that  is  certainly  strange.  I'm  sure 
that  he  told  me  to  talk  to  the  young  lady  on  the 
top  floor.  Perhaps  he  meant  some  young  lady 
who  lived  across  the  hall.  Still,  there  doesn't 
seem  to  have  been  anyone  there  since  the 
trouble." 

Miss  Atwood  smiled.  "He  could  not  have 
meant  anyone  in  that  apartment,  for  I  under- 
stand it  is  occupied  only  by  an  elderly  couple,  a 
Mr.  Ames  and  his  wife.  I  understood  father  to 
say  that  he  had  heard  they  were  traveling  in 
Europe.  I  am  sure  no  one  has  lived  there  since 
we  have  been  in  this  apartment." 

"How  long  have  you  been  here?"  asked  Mor- 
gan. 

"Let  me  see,"  said  Miss  Atwood,  thought- 
fully. "This  is  almost  the  end  of  October,  and 

41 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

we  have  been  here  since  the  middle  of  July. 
That  is  a  little  over  three  months,  isn't  it?" 

"July,"  repeated  Morgan.  "That  isn't  a 
renting  season.  You  must  rent  this  apartment 
furnished." 

"We  do,"  she  replied,  promptly.  "Father 
was  too  busy  to  spend  any  time  on  moving,  so  we 
stored  our  things  in  St.  Louis  and  took  this 
apartment." 

"Real  estate  agents  have  been  making  lots  of 
money  these  days.  I  hear  a  great  many  people 
have  to  pay  them  a  bonus  for  finding  apart- 
ments. I  suppose  they  stuck  you  that  way,  too. ' ' 

* '  No, ' '  returned  the  girl.  1 1 1  understand  that 
father  rented  direct  from  the  tenant.  I  believe 
the  tenant  was  a  friend  of  his,  or  someone  he 
knew  in  a  business  way." 

The  embroidery  which  had  been  lying  in  Miss 
Atwood's  lap  had  gradually  slipped  forward 
and  at  this  moment  dropped  to  the  floor.  As 
she  reached  down  to  pick  it  up,  Morgan's  alert 
eyes  noted  a  purplish  mark  on  her  forearm. 

"You  seem  to  have  bruised  your  arm,  Miss 
Atwood, ' '  he  said,  in  a  tone  that  was  intended  to 
express  sympathy. 

"Oh,  did  you  notice  that  mark?"  she  ex- 
42 


THE  APAETMENT  ACROSS  THE  HALL 

claimed.  "That  lias  been  puzzling  me  all  day. 
I  awoke  suddenly  last  night  with  a  feeling  as  if 
something  had  bitten  me,  but  almost  immedi- 
ately went  to  sleep  again.  During  the  morning 
I  noticed  this  mark  and  the  swelling.  I  can't 
imagine  what  could  have  done  it." 

"May  Hook  at  it?"  asked  Morgan,  as  he  rose 
and  approached  her.  "Perhaps  I  can  suggest 
something." 

She  extended  her  arm,  and  Morgan,  taking 
her  hand,  drew  the  arm  close  to  him.  He  care- 
fully studied  the  spot.  The  only  time  he  had 
ever  seen  such  marks  before  was  on  the  arms 
of  drug  addicts  who  had  not  been  particularly 
careful  in  the  application  of  the  hypodermic 
needle. 

"So  you  think  it  is  a  bite  of  some  kind?" 
asked  Morgan,  looking  keenly  at  her. 

"I  can't  imagine  what  else  it  could  be,"  she 
replied. 

Morgan  dropped  her  hand  and  looked  out  of 
the  window  for  a  moment.  There  was  no  doubt 
in  his  mind  that  the  mark  had  been  made  by  a 
hypodermic  needle,  yet  it  was  the  only  mark  of 
the  kind  that  he  could  see  on  her  arm,  and  there- 
fore would  hardly  seem  to  indicate  that  the  girl 

43 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

was  a  drug  fiend.  Moreover,  there  had  been  no 
indication  of  embarrassment  or  nervousness  in 
her  reference  to  the  mark,  as  would  undoubtedly 
have  been  the  case  had  she  been  addicted  to  the 
use  of  a  drug.  Morgan  realized,  too,  that  the 
fresh  pink  and  white  skin  of  this  girl,  and  the 
bright  eyes,  could  not  be  maintained  if  drugs 
were  taken.  The  case  was  growing  more  puz- 
zling every  minute.  Had  the  use  of  a  hypoder- 
mic needle  on  this  girl  anything  to  do  with  the 
supposed  tragedy  across  the  hall  ? 

After  this  discovery,  Morgan  hesitated  to  ask 
further  questions  at  this  time,  so  he  turned  to 
the  girl  again  and  remarked,  simply,  "It  is 
possible  that  some  kind  of  spider  bit  you  in  the 
night.  If  you  have  any  peroxide  in  the  house, 
I  would  suggest  that  you  bathe  the  spot  with  it. 
And  now  I  must  be  going.  If  I  have  your  per- 
mission, Miss  Atwood,  I  would  like  to  drop  in 
again  sometime  to  let  you  know  about  any  fur- 
ther discoveries  I  may  make  on  this  case." 

"Thank  you,"  she  returned.  "I  shall  be 
interested." 

As  he  turned  to  say  good-bye  at  the  door,  she 
added,  apologetically,  "I  am  sorry  I  had  no 
information  to  give  you." 

44 


THE  APABTMENT  ACE-OSS  THE  HALL 

"Oh,  that's  all  right,"  Morgan  assured  her, 
"I  appreciate  your  courtesy  in  letting  me  have 
this  little  chat  with  you."  But  as  he  drew  the 
door  to  after  him,  Morgan  smiled  and  said  to 
himself,  "Poor  little  girl;  you  don't  realize 
what  a  lot  of  information  you  have  given  me." 


CHAPTER  V 

PECUUAB  FACTS 

WHEN  Morgan  reached  the  second  floor 
on  his  way  down,  he  paused  a  moment 
before  Marsh's  door.  So  far  as  he  had 
gone  in  this  case,  Morgan  was  confronted  with 
two  factors ;  the  connection  of  this  man  with  the 
case,  and  the  bearing  which  Miss  Atwood  and 
her  father  might  have  upon  it.  Without  doubt, 
some  singular  conditions  surrounded  the  At- 
woods,  but  his  knowledge  of  these  was  still  too 
vague  to  give  him  even  a  basis  for  reasoning.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  questionable  circumstances 
surrounding  the  connection  of  this  man  Marsh 
with  the  case,  were  very  definite,  indeed,  and 
though  Morgan  tried  to  avoid  hasty  conclusions, 
he  could  not  keep  back  his  growing  suspicions  of 
Marsh.  As  he  hesitated  before  Marsh's  door, 
Morgan  thought  that  it  moved  slightly.  Step- 
ping closer  and  pushing  the  door  gently  with  an 
outstretched  hand,  he  found  it  tightly  closed. 
Yet,  he  had  a  feeling  that  the  door  had  been 

46 


PECULIAR  FACTS 

softly  closed  after  he  had  stopped  on  the  land- 
ing. That  decided  Morgan.  The  time  was  not 
opportune  for  an  interview  with  this  man.  He 
wanted  to  obtain  some  additional  facts  before 
taking  the  step  he  was  now  convinced  would 
have  to  be  taken,  and  so  went  on  down  the  stairs 
to  carry  his  investigations  further. 

Leaving  the  house,  Morgan  turned  the  corner 
of  Lawrence  Avenue  and  entered  the  alleyway  in 
the  rear  of  the  Eillcrest  apartments. 

Practically  all  Chicago  apartment  houses 
have  an  outside  rear  stairway  for  the  use  of 
tradespeople.  Usually,  this  stairway  is  open 
so  that  anything  which  takes  place  can  be  ob- 
served from  all  nearby  houses.  In  this  instance 
the  stairway  was  enclosed,  with  a  door  leading 
to  the  back  porch  of  each  apartment.  A  person 
could  pass  from  the  alley  up  to  the  third  floor 
without  being  noticed,  even  by  tenants  in  the 
building  itself. 

Morgan  instantly  noted  that  an  automobile 
could  stand  in  the  alleyway  close  to  the  en- 
trance; that  a  person  could  come  down  these 
stairs  unobserved,  step  into  the  car  and  be 
quietly  carried  away,  disappearing  into  the 
general  traffic  of  the  streets  in  probably  not 

47 


THE  SHEEIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

more  than  two  minutes  after  leaving  the  apart- 
ment. 

Here,  thought  Morgan,  was  a  possible  solu- 
tion of  the  sudden  disappearance  of  the  person 
who  had  been  either  murdered  or  wounded.  It 
was  a  problem,  of  course,  as  to  which  door  they 
had  been  brought  through,  and  the  solution  of 
that  problem  would  very  likely  bring  him  pretty 
close  to  the  person  or  persons  who  had  par- 
ticipated in  the  events  of  the  night  before. 

Unquestionably,  the  rear  door  of  the  apart- 
ment where  the  trouble  had  taken  place  had  not 
been  used  for  this  purpose,  although  it  would 
seem  the  logical  and  quickest  way  to  make  an 
exit.  On  the  other  hand,  for  that  very  reason, 
the  persons  back  of  the  supposed  crime  had  been 
clever  enough  to  avoid  it,  thus  adding  a  mystify- 
ing element  to  what  had  taken  place. 

In  the  light  of  present  developments,  two 
possible  exits  suggested  themselves  to  Morgan. 
These  were  the  Atwood  and  Marsh  apartments. 
The  girl,  however,  claimed  that  she  had  slept 
through  the  night,  and  it  hardly  seemed  possible 
that  anyone  could  pass  through  her  flat  without 
arousing  her.  This,  of  course,  meant  taking  for 
granted  her  story  that  she  was  alone  in  the 

48 


PECULIAR  FACTS 

apartment  and  had  been  in  bed  and  sleeping. 
While  Morgan  felt  attracted  toward  the  girl,  and 
placed  considerable  confidence  in  her  honesty, 
he  did  not  allow  these  emotions  to  entirely  dull 
his  sense  of  suspicion.  If  things  did  not  clear 
themselves  shortly  he  would  carry  his  investiga^ 
tions  further  along  this  line. 

In  the  meantime,  his  distrust  centered  on  the 
Marsh  apartment.  This  man  admitted  being 
awake  during  the  reported  struggle,  and  there 
was  no  question  about  his  being  partly  dressed 
and  in  action  while  some  of  the  events  were 
taking  place.  Marsh  could  easily  have  passed  a 
person  or  a  body  to  a  confederate  through  hia 
back  door,  locked  the  door  and  then  hurried  into 
Sheridan  Eoad  to  direct  the  attention  of  the 
police,  or  any  other  persons  who  had  been 
aroused,  to  the  front  of  the  house,  thus  enabling 
his  confederate  to  get  quietly,  safely  and  quickly 
away.  This  was  only  bare  theory  on  Morgan's 
part.  He  needed  definite  facts  to  either  confirm 
this  theory,  or  to  prove  that  his  judgment  was  at 
fault.  The  cuff  button,  with  its  initial  "M," 
looked  curiously  like  one  of  these  facts,  and, 
taken  in  connection  with  the  other  circum^ 
stances,  pointed  strongly  toward  Marsh. 

49 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

He  wanted  to  know  more  about  Marsh,  and 
the  girl  had  given  him  some  basic  facts  which 
would  enable  him  to  enlarge  his  fund  of  infor- 
mation. The  owner,  or  the  real  estate  agent 
who  managed  the  building,  seemed  to  be  the 
logical  starting  point  for  securing  this  informa- 
tion. To  find  out  the  names  of  these  people  must 
be  his  next  step. 

Luckily,  at  this  moment  the  janitor  of  the 
apartment  building  appeared,  rolling  a  barrel 
of  ashes  up  from  the  basement.  "While  it  was 
quite  obvious  that  such  was  the  case,  Morgan 
opened  the  conversation  by  inquiring,  "Are  you 
the  janitor  of  this  flat  house  ?" 

"Yes,  sir,"  replied  the  man. 

"Does  the  owner  run  this  building,  or  has  he 
placed  an  agent  in  charge?" 

"A  real  estate  agent  manages  it,"  the  janitor 
informed  him.  "Parker  &  Cole — over  on 
Broadway." 

:t Thanks,"  said  Morgan,  and  returned  down 
the  alley  to  Lawrence  Avenue  where  he  turned 
west  and  walked  over  to  Broadway.  A  few 
minutes  later  he  stood  at  the  counter  in  the  real 
estate  office,  and  a  man  approached  him. 

"Is  either  Mr.  Parker  or  Mr.  Cole  in?" 
50 


PECULIAR  FACTS 

1 '  I  am  Mr.  Cole, ' '  announced  the  man.  ' '  What 
can  I  do  for  you?" 

Morgan  opened  his  coat  a  minute  to  give  Cole 
a  glimpse  of  his  hadge ;  then  said,  "I  would  like 
to  talk  confidentially  with  you  for  a  few. 
minutes. ' ' 

"Step  into  my  private  office,"  directed  Cole, 
opening  a  gate  as  he  spoke,  and  indicating  a 
space  partitioned  off  at  the  rear. 

"What  is  the  trouble?"  he  inquired,  when 
they  were  seated. 

"I  came  to  see  you  in  connection  with  the 
trouble  in  the  Hillcrest  last  night." 

'  'A  most  unfortunate  affair ! '  '  exclaimed  Cole. 
"It  is  the  first  time  anything  of  the  kind  ever  oc- 
curred in  any  of  the  buildings  under  our  manage- 
ment. It  is  most  unfortunate,"  he  repeated. 

"I  have  been  assigned  to  the  case,"  Morgan 
informed  him,  "and  I  am  gathering  all  the  in- 
formation possible.  Then  I  can  formulate  some 
theory  upon  which  to  work.  Just  at  this  time  I 
want  a  little  information  regarding  your 
tenants  in  the  building." 

"Very  fine  people — very  fine  people,  indeed," 
protested  Cole.  "There  couldn't  be  a  breath  of 
suspicion  against  any  of  them." 

51 


"I'll  be  the  judge  of  that,"  said  Morgan, 
sharply. 

"But  really,"  cried  Cole,  "you  must  not 
annoy  our  tenants.  Surely  it  was  only  a  quarrel 
among  burglars.  One  man  probably  wounded 
his  pal  and  then,  alarmed  at  the  disturbance  he 
had  created,  hurried  him  away. ' ' 

Morgan  smiled.  This  was  a  very  ingenious 
and  plausible  solution  of  the  mystery — at  least 
in  the  real  estate  agent's  eyes.  However,  Mor- 
gan now  sought  facts,  not  amateur  theories,  and 
disregarding  the  real  estate  man's  talk,  he 
pushed  his  quest  for  information. 

"I  have  a  report  in  my  pocket  which  covers 
all  that  I  want  to  know  about  most  of  your 
tenants ;  at  least  for  the  present.  There  are  two 
families,  however,  about  whom  I  want  further 
information.  The  first  is  the  Atwood  family,  in 
the  third  floor  south." 

" Atwood — Atwood,"  repeated  Cole,  as  if  he 
did  not  place  the  name.  Then  he  called,  "  Joer 
bring  me  the  rent  book." 

Morgan  became  alert.  It  was  possible  that  a 
man  like  Cole,  with  a  large  list  of  properties 
under  his  management,  might  be  somewhat 
vague  in  his  recollection  of  the  names  of  a  f  CTT 

52 


PECULIAE  FACTS 

of  his  tenants.  This  case  was  different.  The 
Atwoods,  according  to  the  girl's  story,  had  sub- 
leased their  apartment  quite  recently,  presum- 
ably with  the  agent's  sanction.  The  present 
excitement  should  naturally  have  recalled  this 
matter  to  Cole's  mind — should  even  have  con- 
centrated his  thoughts  upon  the  names  and 
characteristics  of  every  tenant  in  this  particular 
building.  Cole 's  unf amiliarity  with  the  name  of 
Atwood,  therefore,  seemed  peculiar. 

At  this  moment  a  boy  entered  with  a  large 
volume.  Laying  it  on  Cole's  desk,  the  boy 
passed  quietly  out  of  the  office.  Cole  glanced  at 
the  index  and  then  turned  over  certain  pages  in 
the  book. 

"We  have  no  Atwood  in  that  house,"  he  de- 
clared, finally,  looking  up  at  Morgan.  "You 
must  have  made  a  mistake. " 

Before  replying,  Morgan  pulled  out  a  small 
notebook  and  spread  it  open  on  his  knee,  ready 
for  use.  He  also  extracted  a  pencil  from  his 
vest  pocket.  Glancing  at  the  point  to  see  that  it 
was  in  working  condition,  he  turned  to  Cole  with 
the  question,  "Who  does  occupy  the  third  floor 
south  in  that  house?" 

"A  family  named  Crocker." 
53 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

"Full  name,  please." 

"  Joseph  Crocker.  He  rented  that  apartment 
ime  year  ago  the  first  of  this  month,"  stated 
Cole,  after  further  reference  to  the  book. 

Morgan  jotted  this  down  in  his  notebook. 

"You  haven't  heard  that  Mr.  Crocker  sub- 
leased his  flat  f ' '  inquired  Morgan. 

"No,"  replied  Cole,  positively.  "I  would  be 
sure  to  know  about  it,  too.  A  transaction  of 
that  kind  must  be  put  through  and  reported  in 
this  office." 

"Can  you  give  me  any  further  particulars 
about  Mr.  Crocker?" 

"Well,  of  course,  I  could  look  up  his  refer- 
ences and  the  other  papers,  if  you  wish  me  to. 
But  as  I  recall  it,  he  came  from  St.  Louis  and 
had  excellent  references  from  that  city." 

"I  won't  bother  you  to  look  anything  more  up 
on  that  just  now,"  said  Morgan.  "I  may  be 
interested  in  the  information  later.  I'll  see 
what  I  can  find  out  first. " 

"How  did  you  come  to  associate  the  name  of 
Atwood  with  that  apartment  ? ' '  inquired  Cole. 

"I  thought  that  was  the  name  mentioned  in 
the  report  I  have.  It  was  probably  a  mistake 
of  the  man  who  first  went  through  the  building. 

54 


PECULIAR  FACTS 

They  often  make  mistakes  in  names,"  Morgan 
added,  reassuringly,  as  it  was  not  Ms  desire 
to  start  Cole  on  any  investigation  of  his 
own  at  this  time.  "Now,  what  can  you  tell 
me  about  the  Marsh  family,  second  floor 
north?" 

"Well,  there's  a  party  I  can  tell  you  more 
about.  It  made  an  impression  upon  me  at  the 
time  we  rented  the  apartment,  because  we  had 
to  make  special  arrangements." 

"Yes,"  said  Morgan,  encouragingly. 

"You  see,"  continued  Cole,  "owing  to  a  death 
in  the  family,  the  people  who  occupied  that 
apartment  moved  out  in  July,  and  I  sublet  the 
apartment  for  them  from  the  first  of  August,  to 
a  Mr.  Gordon  Marsh.  Mr.  Marsh,  I  understand, 
was  driven  off  his  ranch  in  Mexico  by  the  revolu- 
tionists. As  he  knew  practically  no  one  in  the 
United  States  to  whom  he  could  refer,  we  finally 
compromised  by  his  agreeing  to  pay  his  rent 
quarterly  in  advance." 

"How  much  of  a  family  has  he?"  asked  Mor- 
gan. 

"Only  his  wife,"  returned  Cole.  "That  was 
one  reason  we  were  willing  to  come  to  terms 
with  him.  We  like  small  families;  like  Mr. 

55 


THE  SHERIDAN  EOAD  MYSTERY 

Ames,   who   rents  the   apartment  where   this 
trouble  occurred." 

Morgan  welcomed  this  mention  of  Ames.  It 
gave  him  an  opening  for  further  questions  re- 
garding this  tenant.  He  was  not  overlooking 
the  fact  that  the  Ames  family  might  in  some 
way  be  connected  with  the  affair. 

"I  suppose  Mr.  Ames  and  his  wife  are  still 
away?"  he  inquired. 

"Yes,"  returned  Cole.  "We  received  his 
October  rent  through  his  London  bankers, 
.White,  Wyth  &  Harding;  and  only  a  few  days 
ago,  a  letter  referring  to  some  decorating  to  be 
done  when  he  returns  next  month.  By  the  way, 
why  are  yon  particularly  interested  in  these 
families?" 

"Just  happen  to  be  people  we  didn't  get 
reports  on  at  the  building,  that  is  all.  Our  re- 
ports on  a  case  of  this  kind  have  to  be  com- 
plete." 

"Quite  right — quite  right,"  approved  Cole, 
his  curiosity  evidently  satisfied. 

"Mr.  Marsh  and  Mr.  Ames  are  friends,  are 
they  not?"  queried  Morgan,  casually,  as  he 
noted  down  in  his  book  what  Cole  had  recently 
told  him. 

56 


PECULIAR  FACTS 

"Not  so  far  as  I  know.  In  fact,  it  hardly 
could  be  possible,  inasmuch  as  Mr.  Ames  and  his 
wife  went  abroad  before  Mr.  Marsh  arrived  in 
Chicago." 


PHAPTEB  vi 

THE  CABLE  FROM  LONDON 

AFTER  leaving  the  real  estate  office,  Mor- 
gan walked  south  on  Broadway  to  Wil- 
son Avenue   and   entered  the   Western 
Union  office.     Here  he  sent  a  short  cable  to 
London.      Leaving   his    address    so    that    the 
reply  could   be   forwarded   to   him,   he   went 
across  the  street  and  took  an  elevated  train  for 
home. 

After  dinner  Morgan  settled  down  in  his 
favorite  chair  to  await  Tierney,  who  had  tele- 
phoned that  he  would  be  there  in  a  little  while. 
As  he  was  filling  his  pipe  for  the  second  time, 
the  bell  rang.  Morgan  opened  the  door  and 
Tierney  bustled  in.  The  cheerful  smile,  the 
snappy  step,  and  the  careless  motion  with  which 
Tierney  shot  his  hat  into  a  nearby  chair,  told 
Morgan  as  plainly  as  words,  that  his  partner 
brought  worth  while  information.  Tierney 
pulled  an  easy  chair  up  to  the  table,  and  Morgan 

58 


THE  CABLE  FEOM  LONDON 

pushed  the  tobacco  jar  and  an  extra  pipe  over 
to  him.  Tierney  filled  the  pipe,  lighted  up,  and 
settling  back,  grinned  at  Morgan. 

"I  may  have  exceeded  orders,  but  I've  sure 
got  some  dope  on  that  guy,  Marsh.  You  told  me 
to  find  out  what  I  could  about  Atwood. .  I  visited 
various  stores  in  the  neighborhood  'which  a 
family  was  likely  to  patronize.  No  one  knew  the 
name.  After  I  had  stopped  in  a  cigar  store,  and 
found  that  his  name  was  not  in  the  telephone 
directory,  I  figured  that  there  was  nothing  more 
I  could  do  along  that  line  until  I'd  talked  things 
over  with  you.  So  I  decided  to  hang  around  in 
sight  of  the  house  and  watch  developments. 

"At  a  quarter  to  three  a  young  woman  came 
but,  walked  down  to  Lawrence  Avenue  and  stood 
on  the  corner,  apparently  waiting  for  a  motor 
bus.  As  she  did  not  look  like  anyone  I  had  seen 
in  the  house,  I  gave  her  the  once-over." 

"Was  she  about  medium  height,  slender,  with 
blonde  hair  and  dark  blue  eyes?"  questioned 
Morgan. 

"Well,  I  didn't  get  close  enough  to  gaze  fond- 
ly into  her  eyes,"  said  Tierney,  "but  the  rest  of 
your  description  fits  all  right.  Do  you  know, 
who  she  is  ? " 

59 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

"Probably  Miss  Atwood,"  Morgan  explained, 
"daughter  of  the  tenant  in  the  flat  across  the 
hall.  In  the  future  it  will  do  no  harm  to  keep 
one  eye  on  her,  Tierney. '  * 

"I  kept  both  eyes  on  her  today,  Morgan,  and 
that's  the  way  I  got  the  dope  I  did." 

Morgan  smiled  appreciatively,  and  Tierney; 
went  on. 

"As  I  was  saying,  I  watched  this  girl  as  she 
waited  for  the  bus.  Suddenly  I  glanced  toward 
the  house,  and  there  was  this  guy,  Marsh,  stand- 
ing just  inside  the  doorway.  To  me  it  looked  as 
if  he  was  trying  to  keep  an  eye  on  this  girl,  with- 
out her  seeing  him  if  she  looked  back.  So  I  kept 
out  of  sight  as  far  as  I  could  and  watched  the 
two  of  them.  Sure  enough,  in  about  one  minute 
along  comes  the  bus  and  the  girl  gets  in.  "Would 
you  believe  it,  Morgan,  that  very  minute  Marsh 
dashes  across  the  street,  nails  an  empty  taxi  and 
starts  after  the  bus. 

"Now,  I  ain't  as  quick  as  you,  Morgan,  but  I 
sure  figured  that  my  cue  was  to  join  the  proces- 
sion. Luck  was  with  me,  for  the  minute  I  got 
this  idea  I  spotted  a  Checker  taxi  and  rushed  at 
it  so  hard  the  driver  nearly  fainted.  'Follow 
that  Yellow  ahead!'  I  yelled  to  the  driver,  and 

60 


THE  CABLE  FEOM  LONDON 

before  he  came  to  a  full  stop  I  had  jumped  in 
and  we  were  off. 

"We  trailed  down  Sheridan  Eoad,  through 
Lincoln  Park,  and  on  to  Michigan  Avenue — the 
girl  in  the  bus,  Marsh  in  the  Yellow,  and  me  in 
the  Checker.  Just  after  we  passed  Adama 
Street  the  Yellow  stopped  at  the  curb  and  Marsh 
got  out.  I  stopped  my  cab  quick,  and  as  I 
saw  that  Marsh  was  paying  off  his  driver,  I 
settled  with  mine  and  got  ready  for  the  next 
move. 

"  Marsh  started  down  Michigan  Avenue,  and  I 
could  keep  pretty  close  on  account  of  the  crowd. 
Pretty  soon  I  sighted  this  girl  trotting  along  a 
little  way  ahead  of  us.  Now,  there's  a  situation 
for  you,  Morgan — Marsh  trailing  the  girl  and 
me  trailing  Marsh." 

At  this  point  Morgan's  interest  was  shown  by 
the  fact  that  he  sat  forward  in  his  chair  with  his 
elbows  on  his  knees,  and  for  the  moment  forgot 
to  pull  at  his  pipe. 

Tierney  continued.  "The  girl  turns  into  a 
building  at  six  hundred  and  something  Michigan 
Avenue — I've  got  the  exact  number  in  my  book. 
Marsh  strolls  over  to  the  curb,  while  I,  taking 
advantage  of  his  back  being  turned  for  the 

61 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

moment,  shot  into  the  building  after  her.  She 
entered  an  elevator,  and  I  strolled  in,  too. 
Luckily,  she  stood  near  the  door,  so  I  could  get 
into  the  back  of  the  car  and  not  be  specially 
noticed.  She  got  off  at  a  musical  school.  As  we 
had  been  the  only  two  people  in  the  elevator,  I 
took  a  chance,  and  said  to  the  man  running  it, 
'Some  looker!* 

"  'Yes,'  he  says,  'a  fine  looking  girl.  She 
comes  here  twice  a  week. ' 

"  'Well,'  says  I,  'that's  a  good  thing  for 
women — to  learn  music.  How  long  do  they 
teach  them?' 

"  'You  mean,  how  long  does  a  lesson  last?'  he 
asked  me. 

"'Yes,' I  told  him. 

"'Oh,  about  a  half -hour,'  he  says.  'Say! 
.What  floor  do  you  want?'  he  shot  at  me  as  he 
reached  the  top. 

' '  '  Good  Lord ! '  I  says,  winking  at  him.  '  That 
dame  sure  upset  me.  I  want  to  go  back  two 
floors.' 

"When  he  let  me  out  I  hustled  over  to  the 
stairway,  went  down  to  the  ground  floor,  and 
when  Marsh  had  his  eyes  turned  away  for  a 
minute,  I  beat  it  out  and  up  Michigan. 

62 


THE  CABLE  FROM  LONDON 

"Now,  Morgan,  here's  where  I  was  clever. 
That  girl  was  good  for  a  half -hour  and  so  was 
Marsh,  if  he  was  following  her ;  as  I  was  pretty 
snre  he  was.  Now  you  or  I  haven't  seen  all  of 
the  inside  of  Marsh's  apartment,  have  we? 
And  yet  we  suspect  this  guy,  and  want  to  get 
something  on  him  if  we  can." 

Morgan  nodded,  and  began  to  smile  as 
he  gathered  what  Tierney  was  about  to  tell 
him. 

''Well,  Morgan,  I  figured  that  a  half -hour 
would  give  me  all  the  time  I  needed,  so  I  ran 
over  to  the  elevated  and  went  back  to  Lawrence 
Avenue.  I  slipped  up  the  alleyway,  back  of  the 
house,  and  climbed  the  rear  stairs  to  Marsh's 
flat.  After  thumping  on  the  door  several  times 
I  made  sure  no  one  was  home,  especially  as  the 
shades  in  the  kitchen  and  the  pantry  were  pulled 
down.  So  I  pulled  out  my  bunch  of  keys  and 
had  the  luck  to  find  one  that  opened  the  lock.  I 
closed  the  door  softly,  and  tiptoed  through  the 
kitchen  and  the  dining  room.  Would  you  be- 
lieve it,  Morgan — there  wasn't  a  stick  of  furni- 
ture in  those  rooms!" 

"You  mean  the  place  was  empty?"  asked 
Morgan, 

63 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

"Up  to  the  entrance  to  the  hallway  it  was 
absolutely  bare,  Morgan.  The  living  room  is 
furnished,  and  so  is  the  bedroom;  and  there 
were  a  few  toilet  articles  in  the  bathroom.  He 
has  a  pair  of  heavy  drapes  across  the  doorway 
to  the  dining  room,  so  that  anyone  coming  in 
would  never  gness  the  back  part  wasn't  fur- 
nished. I  looked  things  over  pretty  carefully  in 
the  few  minutes  I  had,  and  I  didn't  find  a  single 
article  that  belonged  to  a  woman.  I  tell  you, 
Morgan,  that  fellow's  living  there  alone  and 
only  got  half  the  flat  furnished !  Take  it  from 
me,  he's  got  something  on.  That  flat's  just 
a  blind.  If  it  was  me,  I'd  lock  him  up  to- 
night." 

"Well,  it's  coining  pretty  soon,  Tierney,"  ac- 
ceded Morgan.  "What  you've  found  out  today 
Sill  help  a  lot." 

.There  was  a  few  minutes  pause  as  the  two 
men  smoked  their  pipes,  and  Morgan  analyzed 
the  facts  which  Tierney  had  given  him.  Sudden- 
ly he  leaned  over  and  picked  up  the  telephone 
from  the  tabouret. 

"What's  doing!"  exclaimed  Tierney. 

"We  shouldn't  leave  that  man  Marsh  un- 
watched  from  now  on,"  explained  Morgan. 

64 


THE  CABLE  FROM  LONDON 

"I  know  it,  Morgan,  and  I've  taken  care  of  all 
that." 

"You  mean  the  house  is  watched?" 

"Sure,"  said  Tierney.  "The  minute  I  go^ 
out  of  the  flat  this  afternoon  I  telephoned  thei 
Captain  of  the  precinct  and  told  him  just  enough' 
to  get  his  co-operation.  There's  a  man  on  the 
job  now  and  he  won't  leave  there,  unless  he  fol- 
lows Marsh,  until  I  relieve  him  in  the  morning. ' ' 

"There's  one  drawback  to  that,"  observed 
Morgan,  as  he  set  the  telephone  back  in  place. 
"No  one  knows  Marsh  except  you." 

"There's  a  man  knows  him  better  than  I  do — » 
Murphy,  the  man  on  the  beat.  He  spent  quite  a 
spell  with  Marsh  last  night." 

"That's  right,"  agreed  Morgan.  "How  did 
you  fix  it!" 

"The  Captain  put  another  man  on  Murphy 'a 
beat,  and  put  Murphy  into  plain-clothes  for  to- 
night. It  worked  all  right,  because  Murphy  was 
a  night  man  anyway. ' ' 

"You're  all  right,  Tierney,"  Morgan  compli- 
mented him. 

Tierney  grinned  his  appreciation. 

"Now  then,  Tierney,"  went  on  Morgan,  "you; 
relieve  Murphy  in  the  morning,  and  watch  things 

65 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

until  I  can  get  on  the  job.  After  I  relieve  you, 
you  get  in  touch  with  Headquarters  and  have 
some  fingerprint  photos  taken. ' ' 

' 'Did  you  find  finger  prints  ? ' '  exclaimed  Tier- 
ney, sitting  up  with  a  start. 

"No,"  explained  Morgan,  ''but  I  found  the 
marks  of  the  sides  of  somebody's  hands  on  the 
dining  room  table  in  that  flat.  I  want  them  pre- 
pared and  photographed  just  as  if  they  were 
fingerprints." 

"But  you  can't  identify  anybody  by  marks  of 
that  kind,"  remarked  Tierney,  with  an  inquiring 
note  in  his  voice. 

"Probably  not,"  Morgan  returned.  "I 
haven't  the  slightest  idea  how  I  could  make  use 
of  such  a  photo  now.  But  I  want  to  provide 
against  anything  that  may  turn  up.  The  marks 
are  there,  and  we  might  as  well  have  a  record 
of  them." 

Tierney  opened  his  mouth  to  reply,  but  at  that 
instant  Morgan  held  up  a  warning  hand. 

In  many  of  the  older  and  smaller  apartments, 
such  as  the  one  occupied  by  Morgan,  the  door 
from  the  main  hall  opens  directly  into  the  liv- 
ing room.  Such  was  the  arrangement  here,  and 
Morgan  slowly  turned  his  head  toward  this  doo» 

66 


THE  CABLE  FROM  LONDON 

and  listened  intently.  Then  he  carefully  arose 
from  his  chair,  moved  softly  around  the  corner 
of  the  table,  and  slowly  tiptoed  toward  the  door. 
Tierney  had  not  heard  a  sound,  yet  he  instantly 
became  as  alert  as  Morgan.  He  stood  ready  for 
a  quick  move,  if  necessary,  while  his  right  hand 
rested  on  the  butt  of  the  revolver  in  his  hip 
pocket. 

At  that  moment  there  was  a  quite  audible 
sound  outside  the  door.  Morgan  leaped  for- 
ward and  threw  the  door  open.  With  the  sound 
of  the  opening  door  both  men  heard  somebody 
break  into  a  hasty  descent  of  the  stairs.  Morgan 
dashed  through  the  door  and  down  the  stairs. 
Tierney  followed  close  behind  him.  Before 
they  reached  the  front  door  they  heard  the  roar 
of  an  opened  muffler  and  an  accelerated  engine, 
and  by  the  time  they  reached  the  front  steps 
there  was  nothing  to  be  seen  except  the  black 
shadow  of  an  automobile  without  lights  rapidly 
disappearing  down  Sheffield  Avenue. 

"Well,  I'm  damned!"  growled  Tierney,  as 
the  car  disappeared. 

Morgan  said  nothing,  but  stood  thoughtfully 
gazing  down  the  street. 

"What  do  you  make  of  it?"  inquired  Tierney. 
67 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

* 'Let's  go  up  again,"  suggested  Morgan, 
without  replying  to  the  question. 

Back  in  the  living  room,  the  men  resumed 
their  seats,  and  spoke  in  lowered  voices. 

"It's  hard  to  tell  what  it  means,"  Morgan  at 
last  replied.  "That's  the  first  time  anything  of 
the  kind  ever  happened  to  me. ' ' 

"How  did  you  get  wise?"  asked  Tierney. 

"I  heard  the  door  move  several  times," 
Morgan  explained.  "At  first  I  thought  it  was 
the  wind,  but  the  last  time  I  heard  it  I  was  sure 
it  had  a  different  sound.  It  seemed  to  me  that 
somebody  had  leaned  against  the  door  while  try- 
ing to  listen." 

"By  God!"  exclaimed  Tierney.  "This  is 
some  case,  Morgan.  Are  we  spying  on  some- 
body, or  is  somebody  spying  on  us?  Marsh 
trails  a  girl;  I  chase  up  Marsh;  and  now  I'm 
damned  if  I  don't  think  somebody's  chasing  me, 
too." 

"It  begins  to  look  like  a  bigger  case  than  I 
thought,  Tierney.  An  ordinary  murderer  usu- 
ally gets  out  of  town  or  lays  low.  Quite  likely 
somebody  is  afraid  we  will  unearth  more  than  a 
murder.  You  run  along  now.  I  want  to  be 
alone  to  think  things  over.  On  your  way  home 

68 


stop  off  and  look  up  Murphy.  Find  out  whether 
or  not  Marsh  has  left  the  house  tonight.  Tele* 
phone  me  what  you  find  out." 

"Sure  thing,"  answered  Tierney,  and  picking 
fcp  his  hat,  hurried  away. 

Morgan  sat  down  in  his  chair  and  began  to 
refill  his  pipe.  After  lighting  it,  he  settled  back 
into  his  chair  and  meditated  on  the  case.  Re- 
viewing in  his  mind  the  various  bits  of  fact, 
information  and  incident  which  he  now  had  at 
hand,  he  endeavored  to  separate  or  combine 
them  according  to  their  direct  bearing  upon  the 
case. 

In  his  earlier  days  Morgan  had  learned  that 
a  criminal  case  was  something  like  a  dusty  road- 
way. Many  tracks  crossed  and  re-crossed  one 
another,  becoming  just  a  bewildering  mass  to 
the  untrained  eye.  In  the  present  instance,  the 
situation  in  "the  Atwood  apartment  had  queer; 
aspects  which  seemed  to  connect  it  with  the  inci- 
dent of  the  night  before.  The  suspicious  points 
were  not  so  glaringly  apparent,  perhaps,  as  the 
circumstances  which  connected  the  man  Marsh, 
but  they  were  there  just  the  same.  "While  the 
Atwood  situation  attracted  Morgan,  he  was  in- 
clined to  believe  that  he  had  actually  uncovered 

69 


THE  SHERIDAN  KOAD  MYSTEEY 

some  other  situation ;  of  a  criminal  nature,  per- 
haps, but  not  associated  with  his  present  investi- 
gations. To  one  unfamiliar  with  crime,  the 
incident  of  Marsh  following  the  girl  might  have 
seemed  to  form  a  connection,  but  Morgan  real- 
ized that  if  there  was  anything  between  the 
Atwoods  and  Marsh,  the  latter  would  hardly 
have  been  secretly  following  Miss  Atwood. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  was  quite  possible  that  a 
clever  criminal,  of  the  type  he  now  suspected 
Marsh  to  be,  having  successfully  accomplished 
one  job,  might  have  another  in  mind,  which  he 
thought  he  could  execute  before  forced  to  make 
his  final  getaway.  Instead  of  attributing  this 
incident  to  a  connection  between  the  Atwoods 
and  Marsh,  Morgan  figured  that  it  weighed 
somewhat  in  the  Atwoods'  favor,  while  still 
further  incriminating  the  man  Marsh. 

At  this  point  in  his  reflections  the  telephone 
bell  rang,  and  answering  it,  Morgan  heard  Tier- 
ney's  voice. 

"I've  just  seen  Murphy, "  reported  Tierney. 
"He  says  that  Marsh  came  home  about  seven- 
thirty  and  has  not  been  out  since;  unless  he 
slipped  out  the  back  door.  This  doesn't  seem 
likely  as  there  is  another  man  watching  the  rear. 

70 


THE  CABLE  FEOM  LONDON 

He  don't  know  Marsh,  but  he  would  find  out 
before  he  let  anyone  go.  Murphy  says  he  has 
seen  a  shadow  pass  the  windows  several  times 
during  the  evening,  and  we  are  pretty  sure  that 
Marsh  is  the  only  person  in  that  flat." 

"All  right,"  replied  Morgan.  They  ex- 
changed good-byes,  and  Morgan  replaced  the 
telephone  on  the  tabouret. 

Settling  back  into  his  chair  once  more,  Morgan 
came  to  the  conclusion  that  one  or  more  of 
Marsh's  confederates  of  the  night  before  had 
simply  been  endeavoring  to  get  information  so' 
ias  to  warn  Marsh  whether  or  not  he  was  sus- 
pected. Morgan  knew  that,  as  usual,  he  and 
^Tierney  had  talked  in  guarded  voices,  so  he  felt 
confident  that  little,  if  any,  of  their  conversation 
had  been  overheard.  It  was  the  anxiety  of  the 
person  on  the  other  side  of  the  door  to  try  and 
catch  their  words  which  had  led  him  to  lean 
heavily  against  the  door  and  so  warn  Morgan 
of  his  presence.  Morgan  felt  fairly  certain  that 
he  would  find  Marsh  at  home  the  next  day,  and 
after  that,  if  any  reports  could  be  conveyed  to 
him,  they  would  be  of  little  use. 

Piecing  together,  one  by  one,  the  various  bits 
*>f  evidence  he  had  accumulated  against  Marsh, 

71 


convinced  Morgan  that  this  was  the  man  he 
wanted.  The  flattened  bullet,  the  cigarette 
ashes,  and  the  hand  marks  could  not  identify 
anyone.  The  cuff  button,  however,  with  its 
initial  "M"  was  more  direct  in  its  accusation. 
It  might  be  the  principal  hold  on  the  suspect. 
Morgan  admitted  that  the  evidence  was  purely 
circumstantial,  and  that  there  was  really 
nothing  in  it  to  convict  a  man  in  a  court  of  law, 
but  there  was  enough  evidence  to  take  Marsh  up 
on  suspicion,  and  past  experience  made  him  con- 
fident that  once  he  had  this  man  at  Head- 
quarters, the  usual  grilling  would  extract 
enough  information  from  him  to  lead  them  to 
sufficient  evidence  of  a  positive  nature. 

There  was,  of  course,  still  a  doubt  as  to 
whether  or  not  an  actual  crime  had  been  com- 
mitted. But  something  surely  had  happened, 
and  Morgan  began  to  feel  that  the  next  day 
would  throw  considerable  light  on  what  it  was. 

Having  reached  these  conclusions,  and  a 
determination  to  visit  Marsh  the  next  day  and 
take  him  into  custody,  Morgan  went  to  bed. 

At  the  first  note  from  his  alarm  clock  the  next 
morning,  Morgan  jumped  promptly  out  of  bed. 

72 


THE  CABLE  FROM  LONDON 

After  awakening  his  mother  so  that  she  could 
get  his  breakfast,  he  hastily  dressed. 

Just  as  he  was  swallowing  the  last  of  his 
coffee  there  came  a  prolonged  ring  at  the  bell. 
His  mother  went  to  the  door,  and  returned  with 
a  Western  Union  envelope.  "My  final  bit  of 
evidence ! ' '  exclaimed  Morgan,  as  he  hurriedly 
tore  off  the  end  of  the  envelope  and  read  the 
cablegram  within.  It  was  brief  and  to  the  point, 
and  read  just  as  Morgan  had  anticipated  it 
would. 

Marsh  unknown  to  me. 

Ames. 


73 


.CHAPTER  VH 

MR.  MABSH 

MORGAN  had  hardly  expected  Buch  an 
early  reply  when  he  sent  his  inquiry  to 
Mr.  Ames  regarding  his  acquaintance 
yith  Marsh.  It  was  possible,  however,  that  Mr. 
Ames  had  made  an  early  morning  call  on  his 
London  bankers,  and  had  immediately  dis- 
patched his  reply.  Morgan  was  glad  that  it  had 
arrived  at  this  opportune  moment.  With  Mur- 
phy to  testify  that  Marsh  had  claimed  Ames  as 
a  friend,  and  with  this  cablegram  to  prove  the 
falsity  of  the  claim,  he  had  at  least  one  unan- 
swerable piece  of  evidence  of  a  suspicious  nature 
to  warrant  his  proposed  action  against  the  man. 
Bidding  his  mother  good-bye,  Morgan  hurried 
around  to  the  elevated  station.  He  purchased  a 
package  of  cigarettes  at  the  news  stand,  and 
climbed  the  steps  two  at  a  time  to  catch  a  train 
he  heard  approaching.  A  few  minutes  later  he 
got  off  at  the  Wilson  Avenue  station,  crossed 
Wilson  Avenue  to  Sheridan  Road,  and  turning 

74 


ME.  MARSH 

north  soon  spotted  Tierney  at  the  corner  of 
Lawrence  Avenue. 

'  *  Hello, 9 '  Morgan  greeted  him.  '  *  Any  news  ? ' ' 
"No,"  replied  Tierney.  "I  relieved  Murphy 
at  six  o  'clock  this  morning,  and  another  man  has 
taken  up  the  watch  in  the  alleyway.  Murphy 
saw  nothing  of  Marsh,  and  he  said  the  light  went 
out  in  his  flat  about  10:30.  The  man  who 
watched  the  alleyway  didn't  see  a  soul  except 
the  milkman.  Marsh  came  out  a  little  while  ago 
and  I  followed  him.  He  had  a  quick  breakfast  in 
the  waffle  shop  just  below  here,  and  I  trailed  him 
back  again." 

"I  guess  I'll  find  my  man  in,  all  right,"  said 
Morgan.  " I'll  go  up  now.  You  tell  the  man  in 
the  alleyway  to  keep  his  eyes  open  while  I'm 
inside.  In  about  ten  minutes,  if  he  doesn't  hear 
anything  from  me,  he  can  come  up  and  wait  out- 
side Marsh's  door.  We'll  leave  him  there  that 
long  in  case  Marsh  should  try  to  slip  out  the 
back  way  when  he  hears  me  at  the  door.  If  he 
doesn't  hear  from  me  in  ten  minutes  he  can  be 
sure  that  I  got  in.  He  will  then  probably  be 
more  useful  close  at  hand  in  the  event  that  any- 
thing should  slip  up.  After  yon  tell  him  what 
to  do,  you  can  go  ahead  with  the  photographs." 

75 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

Tierney  nodded  in  acknowledgment  of  these 
instructions  and  started  back  to  the  alleyway. 
Morgan  entered  the  apartment  house,  climbed 
the  stairs  to  Marsh's  door,  and  rang  the  bell. 
Marsh  immediately  opened  the  door.  It  seemed 
to  Morgan  as  if  Marsh  must  have  been  standing 
there  awaiting  his  ring,  yet  how  could  the  man 
have  suspected  Morgan's  intention  to  call  on 
him  at  this  time!  It  looked  strangely  like  the 
man  had  been  on  watch  at  the  door. 

"Good  morning,"  said  Marsh. 

"Good  morning,"  returned  Morgan.  "I 
want  to  have  a  little  talk  with  you. ' ' 

Marsh  invited  him  in  with  a  pleasant  ring  in 
his  voice,  and  indicated  the  living  room  with  a 
motion  of  his  hand.  Morgan  entered  and  sat 
down  on  a  chair  close  to  the  entrance,  laying  his 
hat  on  the  floor  by  the  chair.  Marsh  watched 
Morgan  sit  down  in  this  strategical  location, 
and  then,  with  a  slight  smile,  strolled  across  and 
seated  himself  in  a  big  chair  near  the  fireplace. 
Resting  his  elbows  on  the  arms  of  the  chair,  and 
interlacing  his  fingers  in  front  of  him,  he  looked 
at  Morgan. 

"Well?"  he  said. 

Morgan  unbuttoned  his  coat  and  exhibited  his 
76 


ME.  MAESH 

badge.  "I  am  Detective  Sergeant  Morgan  of 
the  Chicago  Police  Department." 

"Oh,  yes — Dave  Morgan." 

Morgan  looked 'at  Marsh  sharply.  "YouVe 
heard  of  me  before,  have  yon?"  he  said. 

"Not  until  early  Tuesday  morning,"  smiled 
Marsh.  "Then  I  heard  one  of  the  policemen 
refer  to  the  fact  that  this  would  be  a  job  for 
Dave  Morgan.  Evidently  you  have  quite  a 
reputation  here  in  Chicago,  Mr.  Morgan. ' ' 

"Among  crooks — yes,"  snapped  Morgan. 
The  easy  attitude  of  the  other  man  was  just  a 
little  puzzling.  Morgan,  however,  was  inclined 
to  attribute  it  to  his  confidence  that  they  were 
not  in  a  position  to  actually  fasten  any  guilt 
upon  him.  He  suspected  that  the  man  was  play- 
ing a  game,  and  this  not  only  nettled  him,  but 
served  to  strengthen  his  suspicions.  Morgan 
went  on. 

"I  have  been  assigned  to  this  murder  case 
upstairs,  Mr.  Marsh.  After  considerable  inves- 
tigation I  find  it  will  be  necessary  to  ask  you  a 
few  questions." 

Marsh  nodded  but  said  nothing. 

Morgan  sat  silent  for  a  moment,  as  if  consid- 
ering how  to  begin.  Then,  without  apparently 

77 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

looking  at  Marsh,  he  suddenly  said,  "It's  a  long 
jump  from  Mexico  to  Chicago. ' ' 

Marsh  unclasped  his  fingers  for  a  moment  and 
looked  hard  at  Morgan.  Morgan  caught  what 
he  believed  to  be  a  start,  but  gave  no 
indication  that  it  had  made  an  impression  upon 
him. 

"I  was  wondering,"  he  continued,  slowly, 
"what  had  brought  you  such  a  long  way." 

"Obviously,  Mr.  Morgan,  if  you  know  that 
much  about  me,  you  must  also  know  that  I  came 
here  on  business." 

"When  do  you  attend  to  your  business,  Mr. 
Marsh?"  asked  Morgan,  now  looking  him  in  the 
eye. 

"At  various  times  of  the  day,"  replied  Marsh. 
"Whenever  I  can  get  appointments  with  the 
people  I  am  negotiating  with.  I  don't  quite 
understand  the  trend  of  these  questions,  but  I 
might  say  that  I  was  downtown  on  business  the 
greater  part  of  yesterday  afternoon." 

"Does  standing  on  a  Michigan  Avenue  curb 
constitute  the  principal  part  of  your  business, 
Mr.  Marsh?" 

"Well,  I  sometimes  fill  in  my  time  like  that 
until  I  am  sure  the  people  who  are  interested  in 

78 


ME.  MAESH 

my  movements  have  gone  on  abont  their  own 
business." 

It  was  Morgan's  tnrn  to  look  disconcerted. 
Evidently  he  had  a  clever  man  to  deal  with,  and 
he  began  to  wonder  if  his  present  step  had  not 
been  too  precipitate.  He  felt  sure  that  it  was 
going  to  be  difficult  to  fasten  anything  on  this 
man.  He  decided,  however,  that  he  had  gone  too 
far  to  draw  back  now,  and  he  went  on  with  his 
questions, 

"In  the  preliminary  report  which  was  given 
me,"  he  said,  "I  noticed  that  you  made  a  state- 
ment to  the  patrolman  you  called  in  that  the 
noise  in  the  flat  above  aroused  both  you  and  your 
wife." 

-   "Yes,"  admitted  Marsh,  "I  believe  I  did  say 
something  like  that." 

"But,"  added  Morgan,  "we  have  not  been 
able  to  get  an  interview  with  your  wife. ' ' 

*  *  Such  an  interview  would  be  quite  useless.  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  she  knows  no  more,  and  prob- 
ably not  so  much  as  I  do  about  what  took  place." 

"You're  probably  right  about  that,"  smiled 
Morgan,  and  there  was  a  sarcastic  ring  in  his 
voice,  "Just  the  same,  I'd  like  to  have  a  few 
word*  "with  her." 


THE  SHEEIDAN  EOAD  MYSTERY 

"You  know  as  well  as  I  do,  Mr.  Morgan,  that 
that  would  be  impossible. " 

Morgan  raised  his  eyebrows.  "I  don't  get 
you,"  he  said. 

"Well,  to  be  more  explicit,  then,  you  know 
that  my  wife  does  not  live  here." 

"Here's  a  new  game,"  thought  Morgan. 
There  was  no  doubt  that  Marsh  was  openly 
fencing  with  him.  In  fact,  the  man  seemed  to 
know  every  move  which  had  been  made.  At 
last  the  super-criminal  of  literature  seemed  to 
have  stepped  into  actual  life.  Morgan  was  cer- 
tain that  some  crime  had  been  committed,  and 
the  circumstantial  evidence  against  this  man 
had  been  accumulating  rapidly.  Yet,  as  he 
faced  him  and  thought  it  over,  he  realized  how 
intangible  was  their  hold  upon  Marsh.  Of 
course,  when  they  got  this  man  down  to  Head- 
quarters they  might  force  him  to  give  more  ex- 
plicit details  regarding  his  past  and  present 
actions,  but  a  man  so  clever  as  this  had  probably 
left  little  behind  him  that  would  convict  him  of 
anything;  certainly  not  of  his  connection  with 
whatever  had  taken  place  in  the  apartment 
above.  The  cuff  button,  even,  seemed  to  be 
growing  doubtful  in  value. 

80 


ME.  MARSH 

These  reflections  on  Morgan's  part  flashed 
through  his  mind  so  quickly  that  there  was  only 
the  slightest  pause  between  Marsh's  last  state- 
ment and  the  next  question. 

"What  would  give  you  that  impression?" 
asked  Morgan. 

"Your  man  went  through  my  apartment 
yesterday,  and  I'm  sure  he  found  no  evidence  of 
a  lady  occupying  it  with  me. ' ' 

Morgan  found  it  difficult  to  conceal  his  aston- 
ishment, not  only  at  the  statement,  but  the 
man's  intimate  knowledge  of  things  of  which  he 
was  supposed  to  be  in  ignorance.  Then  he  re- 
membered the  clandestine  listener  at  his 
door,  and  his  doubts  of  a  moment  before  took 
flight. 

"It  is  quite  evident,"  declared  Morgan,  "that 
you,  or  someone  connected  with  you,  have  taken 
an  unusual  interest  in  the  movements  of  the 
Chicago  Police  Department.  Why?" 

"I  have  taken  no  special  interest  in  what  you 
have  been  doing,"  said  Marsh.  "It  was  not 
difficult  to  note  that  almost  from  the  time  I  called 
the  attention  of  your  man  on  the  beat  to  the 
occurrence,  your  men  have  been  regarding  me 
with  suspicion.  I  cannot  possibly  understand 

81 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

why  this  should  be  so,  but  you  will  admit  that  it 
is  a  fact,  won't  you!" 

Morgan  remained  silent. 

"I  could  not  help  noticing,"  continued  Marsh, 
"that  the  man  who  had  been  conducting  an 
investigation  in  this  house  was  keeping  watch 
across  the  street.  Happening  to  glance  back 
after  entering  a  taxicab  yesterday,  I  observed 
this  man  entering  another  taxi,  which  followed 
mine  downtown.  It  was  obvious  to  the  most 
ordinary  intelligence  that  he  was  following  me. 
After  I  reached  the  'loop'  district  I  was  abso- 
lutely sure  of  it.  Then,  when  I  returned  and 
found  footmarks  in  my  apartment,  it  was  quite 
evident  that  someone  had  been  investigat- 
ing." 

Morgan  was  stunned.  "Footmarks!"  he 
thought.  "Had  Tierney  been  so  clumsy  and 
careless  as  to  enter  the  flat  with  muddy  shoes?" 
Something  had  to  be  done  to  cover  an  awkward 
pause,  and  give  him  a  chance  to  gather  his  wits, 
so  Morgan  took  out  the  package  of  cigarettes. 
After  helping  himself  to  one,  he  tossed  the 
package  to  Marsh.  Morgan  noted  with  satis- 
faction that  the  man  took  one  before  handing  the 
package  back.  Marsh  smoked  cigarettes ! 

82 


MR.  MARSH 

"  Why  did  you  follow  Miss  Atwood?"  Morgan 
suddenly  shot  at  him. 

Marsh's  face  expressed  surprise.  " Follow 
Miss  Atwood!"  he  exclaimed. 

' t  That 's  what  it  looked  like, ' '  asserted  Morgan. 

"Well,  that  was  a  strange  coincidence," 
commented  Marsh. 

Morgan  found  it  hard  to  determine  whether 
this  was  a  reply  or  an  evasion.  He  decided, 
however,  that  matters  had  gone  far  enough,  and 
that  Marsh  must  either  prove  himself  innocent, 
or  stay  in  jail  until  they  could  definitely  fasten 
his  guilt  upon  him.  To  bring  matters  to  a  head, 
he  reached  into  his  pocket  for  the  cablegram. 

"You  said  that  Mr.  Ames,  the  man  who  rents 
the  flat  upstairs,  was  a  friend  of  yours." 

"I  believe  I  did,"  admitted  Marsh. 

"Well,  I  have  a  cablegram  here  from  Mr. 
Ames,"  stated  Morgan,  as  he  brought  out  the 
paper.  "Read  it." 

Marsh  leaned  forward,  took  the  cablegram, 
read  it  gravely,  and  returned  it  to  Morgan. 

"You  have  certainly  got  me  tied  up,"  he  said. 

"Tight  as  a  drum!"  agreed  Morgan.  "The 
game's  up,  Marsh.  You're  coming  with  me  to 
Headquarters." 

83 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

"I'm  afraid  you  have  sort  of  spilled  the 
beans,  Morgan, ' '  laughed  Marsh,  rising. 

Morgan,  however,  was  used  to  the  last  minute 
plays  of  cornered  criminals.  Leaning  back  in 
his  chair,  and  smiling  encouragingly,  his  hands, 
without  seeming  purpose,  were  slipped  into  the 
side  pockets  of  his  coat.  The  right  hand  quickly 
gripped  a  revolver  in  readiness. 

"Yes,"  continued  Marsh,  "I  had  hoped  to 
work  quietly,  but  this  incident  has  upset  my 
plans.  Yet,  after  all,  perhaps  we  can  work  to- 
gether with  greater  success." 

"Now  we  come  to  the  'divvy'  proposition," 
thought  Morgan.  He  remained  expectantly 
silent,  however,  and  his  face  still  wore  its  en- 
couraging smile. 

Marsh  came  closer  and  the  end  of  the  con- 
cealed revolver  barrel  moved  upward  just  a 
trifle.  The  next  moment  the  smile  on  Morgan's 
face  faded  out  and  his  eyes  filled  with  an  aston- 
ished stare. 

Marsh  had  thrown  back  his  coat,  revealing  the 
badge  of  the  United  States  Secret  Service ! 


84 


CHAPTER  VIII 

A  DEFINITE   CLUE 

6  4  "X  7*  OU  can  take  your  hand  off  that  gun 

jf    now,"  suggested  Marsh,  as  he  smiled 

at  Morgan  and  went  back  to  his  chair. 

"I'll  tell  you  my  part  of  the  story,  and  perhaps 

we'll  find  in  the  end  that  two  heads  are  better 

than  one. 

"You  have  made  a  big  but  perhaps  a  natural 
mistake.  If  you  doubt  my  word  in  anything  I 
am  about  to  tell  you,  it  will  only  be  necessary  for 
you  to  consult  the  Secret  Service  branch  in  the 
Federal  Building,  to  confirm  my  status  in  this 
case. 

"Without  any  intention  of  trying  to  kid  you, 
Morgan,  I  want  to  say  this — you've  done  some 
quick  and  clever  work  in  approximately  twenty- 
four  hours.  I  realized  from  the  first  that  things 
had  framed  themselves  in  a  peculiar  way 
against  me.  Yet,  I  will  say  frankly,  that  I  did 
not  expect  a  local  policeman  to  put  the  facts 
together  so  quickly." 

85 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

''I  am  only  human,  Marsh/ J  broke  in  Morgan, 
*  'and  your  appreciation  sounds  good  to  me.  But 
let's  get  down  to  the  story.'* 

"Quite  right/'  agreed  Marsh.  "It  begins 
two  years  ago.  At  that  time  the  Government 
discovered  that  counterfeit  five-dollar  bills  were 
appearing  in  the  East.  They  put  me  on  the  case 
and  I  traced  them  from  city  to  city.  Suddenly 
the  output  seemed  to  stop.  For  a  time  I  was  at 
loose  ends,  and  then  I  had  word  that  they  were 
appearing  again  in  St.  Louis.  I  made  a  quick 
jump  to  that  city.  Counterfeit  five-dollar  bills 
are  comparatively  easy  to  pass.  A  larger  bill 
may  attract  attention,  but  five  dollars  is  a  com- 
monly used  unit.  For  that  reason  few  people 
could  remember  and  describe  the  person  who  had 
tendered  the  bill.  But  to  make  a  long  story  short, 
I  finally  brought  their  source  close  to  a  man 
named  Atwood,  by  finding  out  that  his  daughter 
Jane  occasionally  paid  for  things  with  this  par-- 
ticular  series  of  counterfeit  five-dollar  notes. 

"I  located  this  man's  home,  where  he  lived 
with  his  wife  and  daughter.  Neighbors  believed 
him  to  be  a  traveling  man  as  he  was  away  a 
great  deal.  I  never  got  a  look  at  the  man,  be* 
cause  in  some  way  he  evidently  got  wind  that  we 

86 


A  DEFINITE  CLUE 

were  watching  him  and  stayed  away  from  the 
house.  From  neighbors,  however,  I  learned 
that  he  was  tall,  well  built,  dark  haired  and  wore 
a  small  mustache.  Not  exactly  a  definite 
description,  but  one  which  might  help  in  con- 
nection with  other  things.  Finally,  I  got  a  new 
clue  from  Detroit,  which  seemed  to  indicate  that 
I  would  find  the  man  there.  It  came  to  nothing, 
however,  and  when  I  returned  to  St.  Louis  I 
found  that  Atwood's  wife  had  died  in  the  meant 
time — that  he  had  stored  his  furniture,  and  his 
daughter  was  living  in  an  hotel.  I  figured  that 
there  was  nothing  to  do  but  keep  a  close  watch 
on  her  from  that  time  on,  and  eventually  get  in 
touch  with  Atwood;  then,  through  him,  locate 
the  other  members  of  the  gang.  While  there 
was  no  direct  evidence  that  such  was  the  case, 
we  know  from  experience  that  in  a  counterfeit- 
ing case  there  are  almost  always  two  or  more 
persons  engaged  in  the  work. 

"One  night  this  girl  gave  me  the  slip,  and  it 
took  me  nearly  two  weeks  to  trace  her  to 
Chicago.  Keeping  watch  on  places  where  these 
bills  occasionally  appeared,  I  recognized  her 
one  day,  and  then  located  her  in  this  apartment 
building.  Now  experience  had  shown  that  this 

87 


THE  SHEEIDAN  EOAD  MYSTERY 

case  was  really  a  game  of  patience.  So  far,  little 
had  been  accomplished  by  hanging  around  the 
streets  and  watching  the  girl.  A  vacant  apart- 
ment in  this  very  building  gave  me  an  unusual 
opportunity. 

"You  know,  Morgan,  there  are  few  crimes 
that  the  Government  looks  on  with  such  severity 
as  counterfeiting.  To  apprehend  a  counter- 
feiter they  will  go  to  any  lengths  and  spend  any 
amount  of  money.  So  I  received  permission  to 
rent  this  apartment.  It  gave  me  the  advantage 
of  not  only  being  right  in  the  building  constant- 
ly, without  attracting  special  attention,  but  as  I 
was  on  the  floor  below  the  suspects,  I  had  an 
excellent  opportunity  to  keep  an  eye  on  all  who 
passed  up  and  down  the  stairs.  Another  for- 
tunate circumstance  was  the  fact  that  the 
apartment  over  me  was  unoccupied.  There 
could  be  no  question  as  to  where  people  passing 
up  and  down  the  stairs  were  going. 

"Government  men,  as  you  know,  Morgan, 
usually  work  with  the  utmost  secrecy.  Our  own 
local  men  were  not  even  supposed  to  know  I  was 
here  unless  the  time  came  when  I  should  need 
help.  It  was  not  logical,  therefore,  for  me  to 
disclose  my  identity  or  give  any  hint  of  it  to  the 

88 


A  DEFINITE  CLUE 

real  estate  firm  that  rented  me  the  apartment. 
That  was  why  I  posed  as  a  ranch  owner  from 
Mexico,  here  in  Chicago  for  the  purpose  of  inter- 
esting certain  financial  interests  in  my  property. 
That  left  out  the  entangling  subject  of  refer- 
ences. Naturally,  I  did  not  want  to  waste  money 
on  the  complete  furnishing  of  an  apartment 
which  might  be  vacated  at  any*  moment,  so  I 
simply  furnished  up  that  part  of  it  which  might 
come  under  the  eye  of  a  stranger.  And  certain- 
ly these  two  rooms  afforded  me  all  the  comfort 
that  I  required. ' ' 

"But  Marsh,"  interrupted  Morgan.  "Why 
did  you  make  those  breaks  about  your  wife,  and 
knowing  Ames  upstairs?" 

"A  man  in  your  line  of  work,  Morgan,  ought 
to  understand  the  wife  idea,  now  that  you  know 
some  of  the  facts.  A  supposedly  married  man 
passes  quite  unnoticed,  but  just  give  the  ladies 
a  hint  that  a  bachelor  is  in  the  house  and  imme- 
diately everyone  focuses  attention  upon  him. 
He  is  a  poor,  lonesome  man,  to  be  pitied,  and 
every  woman  in  the  house  would  have  lain  awake 
nights  figuring  how  she  could  introduce  me  to  a 
marriageable  young  woman.  So  I  invented  Mrs. 
Marsh  as  a  protection. 

89 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

"I'll  admit  that  my  claim  of  friendship  with 
Ames  didn't  work  out  well  in  this  instance. 
However,  it  was  an  idea  conceived  in  a  hurry, 
and  in  the  ordinary  course  of  events  would  have 
really  attracted  little,  if  any,  attention.  You 
realize  that  I  was  in  this  house  to  watch  certain 
people  without  disclosing  my  identity  in  any 
way.  I  knew  positively  that  the  flat  over  me 
was  closed  and  empty.  Then  I  was  awakened 
suddenly  in  the  night  hy  a  most  suspicious  dis- 
turbance. Naturally,  I  connected  it  immediate- 
ly with  the  people  I  was  watching.  If  I  took  an 
active  interest  in  this  trouble  it  might  force  my 
hand,  because  a  moment's  consideration  will 
show  you  that  the  connection  was  only  a  guess 
on  my  part,  and  might  not  be  a  fact.  My  first 
thought,  therefore,  was  to  get  the  local  police 
on  the  job  as  quickly  as  possible  and  still  keep 
in  touch  with  the  incident  myself. 

"You  may  ask  why  I  didn't  telephone  the 
Police  Department,  instead  of  running  into  the 
street.  When  I  looked  at  my  watch  I  saw  that 
it  was  two  o'clock,  and  I  knew  from  observation 
that  a  patrolman  was  likely  to  be  within  a  block 
or  two  of  the  house  at  that  hour.  On  the  other 
hand,  if  I  telephoned,  it  might  be  twenty  minutes 

90 


A  DEFINITE  CLUE 

before  your  men  arrived,  and  you  know,  Morgan, 
that  a  lot  can  happen  in  twenty  minutes. 

"After  your  man  had  telephoned  for  help  he 
was  disinclined  to  have  me  butt  into  the  matter 
any  further.  Yet,  you  can  see  how  imperative  it 
was  for  me  to  be  on  the  job  as  well  as  your  men. 
The  first  thought,  and  the  most  logical  excuse, 
which  came  to  my  mind,  was  to  tell  the  patrol- 
man that  the  tenant  of  the  flat  was  a  personal 
friend  of  mine.  This  made  it  seem  perfectly 
natural  for  me  to  follow  up  his  interests  in  the 
matter.  As  to  keeping  track  of  your  move- 
ments, it  was  only  natural  that  I  would  want  to 
keep  in  touch  with  your  progress  in  the  case  as 
much  as  possible." 

* '  One  question,  Marsh, ' '  said  Morgan.  *  'How 
in  thunder  could  you  see  my  partner's  footsteps, 
as  you  said  you  did,  in  your  apartment?" 

Marsh  laughed. 

"Through  a  very  simple  precaution  that  I 
have  taken  ever  since  I  moved  in  here — a  little 
talcum  powder  sprinkled  over  the  dining  room 
floor. 

"Now,  Morgan,  I  have  laid  my  cards  on  the 
table.  You  can  see  the  close  connection  that 
probably  exists  between  the  Atwood  counter- 

91 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

f  eiting  case  and  whatever  took  place  in  the  flat 
over  us.  If  you  have  found  out  anything,  out- 
side of  what  you  supposed  to  be  my  connection 
with  the  case,  I  would  like  to  have  the  informa- 
tion. 

"So  that  you  can  see  how  close  the  connection 
between  the  two  cases  really  is,  I  will  tell  you 
that  after  your  men  left  Tuesday  morning,  I  did 
a  little  further  investigating  on  my  own  account, 
and  found  what  I  believed  to  be  a  definite  clue 
to  the  Atwoods'  connection  with  the  trouble." 

"What  was  that?"  asked  Morgan. 

"A  small  smear  of  blood  on  the  doorknob  of 
the  Atwood  apartment!" 

The  fact  that  Marsh,  who  had  been  sur- 
rounded by  such  suspicious  circumstances  that 
Morgan  had  been  enabled  to  build  up  one  of  his 
quickest  cases,  had  now  turned  out  to  be  an 
operative  of  the  Federal  Government,  was  one 
of  the  most  astounding  things  with  which  Mor- 
gan had  ever  met.  It  was  obvious  that  for  once 
in  his  life  he  had  followed  persistently  on  a  blind 
trail,  and  now  found  himself  only  a  little  better 
off  than  when  he  started.  Naturally,  his  profes- 
sional pride  was  hurt,  but  the  candid  way  in 
which  Marsh  had,  to  use  his  own  words,  laid  his 

92 


A  DEFINITE  CLUE 

cards  on  the  table,  appealed  to  Morgan.  He  felt 
that  this  Government  man  was  both  broad- 
minded  and  efficient.  He  realized  that  there  was 
surely  more  to  gain  by  accepting  Marsh's  propo- 
sition, and  working  with  him,  than  there 
would  be  if  each  worked  alone,  and  very  prob- 
ably at  cross  purposes.  The  story  which  Marsh 
had  told  him,  the  surprising  clue  he  had  just 
offered,  and  the  facts  in  his  own  possession, 
showed  conclusively  the  close  connection  be- 
tween the  affair  of  the  empty  apartment  and  the 
Atwood  counterfeiting  case.  Locating  the 
murderer  would  undoubtedly  bring  the  counter- 
feiters to  light,  and  in  the  same  way,  locat- 
ing the  counterfeiters  would  probably  disclose 
the  perpetrator  of  this  now  unquestioned 
crime. 

Morgan  covered  up  these  deliberations  by  get- 
ting out  his  pipe  and  tobacco  pouch  and  lighting 
np.  "Now  I  can  talk,"  he  said,  as  he  leaned 
back  in  his  chair. 

"I  may  have  a  few  facts  that  you  don't  know, 
Marsh,  and  now  that  I  know  the  whole  situation 
I  can  see  that  they  will  probably  be  of  some 
value  to  you.  Or  in  any  event,  of  value  to  both 
of  us  in  the  general  working  out  of  the  case. 

93 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

For  I  want  to  say  that  I  am  satisfied  with 
your  suggestion  about  our  working  to- 
gether. 

"I  called  on  this  Miss  Atwood  yesterday, 
While  some  of  the  information  which  she  gave 
me  simply  ties  up  with  and  confirms  your  own 
story,  there  was  one  thing  I  discovered  that 
may  help  us.  Of  course,  in  lining  up  my  evi- 
dence, I  separated  the  strong  points  against  you 
from  certain  suspicious  circumstances  con- 
nected with  the  Atwoods.  That  girl  impressed 
me  so  favorably  that  I  could  not  definitely  con- 
nect her  with  the  trouble  upstairs.  Instead,  I 
was  inclined  to  believe  that  I  had  uncovered 
something  else. 

"During  my  talk  with  the  girl  I  noticed  a 
peculiar  mark  on  her  arm.  I  brought  the  con- 
versation around  to  that  mark,  and  she  told  me 
that  some  time  during  the  night  of  tie  crime  she 
had  been  awakened  by  a  sharp  sting  in  the  arm, 
but  had  almost  immediately  gone  to  sleep  again. 
Noticing  the  mark  in  the  morning,  she  was 
Tinder  the  impression,  so  she  said,  that  it  was  a 
bite  from  some  kind  of  insect — I  suggested  a 
spider.  But  the  truth  was,  Marsh,  that  mark 
was  made  by  a  hypodermic  needle ! 

94 


'A  DEFINITE  CLUE 

"In  my  experience  I  have  come  into  contact 
with  lots  of  dope  users.  I  know  just  how  they 
act,  talk  and  look — and  that  girl  is  not  a  dope 
fiend.  In  my  opinion  there  are  only  two  solu- 
tions to  that  mark  on  the  girl's  arm.  Either  she 
has  not  slept  well  of  late,  and  decided  to  use 
something  to  help  her,  or  else  somebody  jabbed 
her  without  her  knowledge.  The  first  explana- 
tion is  hardly  likely,  because  sleeplessness  is 
treated  in  other  ways.  Now  that  you  tell  me 
this  man  Atwood  is  a  criminal,  and  that  you 
found  a  bloodstain  on  the  doorknob,  I  am  con- 
vinced that  someone  gave  her  an  injection  of 
morphine  so  that  this  job  could  be  pulled  with- 
out her  knowledge.  You  probably  know  as  well 
as  I  do,  that  the  small  purple  mark,  accom- 
panied by  the  swelling,  which  I  noticed  on  her 
arm,  would  result  only  from  the  hasty  and  care- 
less use  of  the  hypodermic  needle." 

"What  you  tell  me,  Morgan,'*  said  Marsh, 
' 'confirms  what  I  have  thought  for  some  time. 
That  is,  that  Jane  Atwood  is  only  the  innocent 
tool  of  her  father,  and  the  gang  behind  him. 
Perhaps  not  even  that.  She  exhibits  none  of 
the  instincts  or  earmarks  of  the  criminal  woman, 
and  no  woman  with  easy  money  at  her  command 

95 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

would  spend  the  hours  and  hard  work  which  she 
does  in  the  study  of  music.  Confidentially,  Mor- 
gan, I  like  the  girl,  and  what  I  have  just  told  you 
is  one  of  the  reasons  why  I  have  never  at- 
tempted to  arrest  her  and  force  a  confession. 
I  felt  that  all  I  could  really  do  was  to  keep  her 
under  surveillance  until  such  time  as  I  could 
catch  one  of  the  real  criminals  getting  in  touch 
with  her.  The  father  and  his  gang  have  either 
simply  been  using  her  to  a  limited  extent  to  pass 
their  counterfeit  notes,  or  else  he  has  included  a 
few  with  money  which  he  gave  her.  Possibly  he 
has  maintained  her  in  a  home  to  have  a  back- 
ground of  respectability  to  which  he  could  retire 
in  emergencies.  Letting  her  use  counterfeit 
notes  may  have  been  just  one  of  the  slips  of 
which  every  criminal  is  guilty.  A  really  clever 
man  is  also  clever  enough  to  know  that  it  doesn  't 
pay  to  be  a  criminal.  No  matter  how  long  the 
rope,  there  is  always  an  end  to  it." 

"Well,"  said  Morgan,  " there's  no  question 
that  as  matters  now  stand,  that  girl  is  our  only 
working  point.  I  have  already  called  on  her, 
and  disclosed  my  identity  as  a  detective,  so  as 
far  as  I  am  concerned  there  is  little  that  can  be 
done  in  that  direction.  You,  as  a  tenant  in  this 

96 


house,  however,  could  cultivate  her  acquaint- 
ance without  arousing  any  real  suspicions  on 
her  part." 

"I  have  been  watching  for  an  opportunity  to 
strike  up  an  acquaintance  for  a  long  time,"  re- 
plied Marsh,  "but  no  such  opportunity  has  as 
yet  presented  itself.  You  can  rest  assured,  how- 
ever, that  I  am  ready  when  it  does." 

Just  then  Marsh  sat  up  and  listened,  as  foot- 
steps sounded  over  their  heads. 

"That's  all  right,  Marsh,"  smiled  Morgan. 
"Those  are  my  men  taking  fingerprint  photo- 
graphs. That  was  the  next  point  I  was  going  to 
tell  you  about — my  discoveries  in  that  apart- 
ment." 

"You  found  fingerprints?"  cried  Marsh. 

"No,  just  the  marks  of  the  sides  of  two  hands. 
Apparently  not  of  much  use — but  then  you 
never  can  tell." 

Morgan  suddenly  jumped  to  his  feet.  "Good 
Lord!"  he  exclaimed,  "that  reminds  me.  I 
forgot  that  I  had  a  man  sitting  outside  on  the 
stairs.  He  '11  be  wondering  what  has  happened. ' ' 
With  that  Morgan  went  to  the  door  and  told  the 
plain-clothes  man,  who  had  been  waiting  out- 
side, that  everything  was  going  smoothly  and 

97 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY, 

he  could  go  back  to  the  station.  Returning  to 
his  chair,  Morgan  took  up  the  subject  of  the 
clues  he  had  discovered  in  the  apartment.  After 
recounting  his  discovery  of  the  cuff  button,  he 
added,  "and  that  was  one  of  the  most  damn- 
ing pieces  of  evidence  which  I  had  against 
you,  Marsh — the  letter  "M"  on  that  cuff 
button." 

"That  would  not  have  gone  very  far," 
laughed  Marsh,  "because  I've  never  worn  an 
initialed  cuff  button  in  my  life.  In  fact,  Mor- 
gan, it  could  have  been  only  a  clue — not  evidence 
i — for  it  would  have  been  simple,  when  the  loss 
was  discovered,  to  also  lose  the  duplicate.  That 
cuff  button  may  or  may  not  be  a  clue.  Of  course, 
the  tenant's  initials  do  not  coincide  with  the 
initial  on  that  button,  but  it  might  have  been 
dropped  by  a  servant  or  a  friend.  As  a  matter 
of  fact,  that  button  might  have  been  lying  under 
the  cabinet  for  some  time  before  Ames  went  to 
Europe.  However,  it 's  something  worth  having 
and  remembering,  for  one  never  can  tell  when 
even  a  little  thing  like  that  may  give  some  lead 
that  would  prove  worth  while. ' ' 

"How  would  you  analyze  that  flattened 
bullet?"  asked  Morgan. 

98 


A  DEFINITE  CLUE 

"The  shot  was  fired  at  close  range/'  Marsh 
replied.  "It  may  have  passed  clear  through  the 
person  fired  at.  That  bullet  is  worth  remem- 
bering, however,  just  like  the  cuff  button.  Some 
day  it  may  fit  in  with  and  explain  other  evi- 
dence." 

"There  is  one  more  point/'  added  Morgan, 
"that  may  or  may  not  have  a  bearing  on  this 
case.  Last  night,  while  my  partner  Tierney  and 
myself  were  conferring  on  this  case  at  my  house, 
somebody  tried  to  listen  outside  my  door.  I 
was  pretty  sure  this  was  so  from  the  sounds  I 
heard ;  and  when  I  went  to  the  door,  somebody 
dashed  down  the  stairs  and  escaped  in  a  motor 
car.  I'm  ashamed  to  say  it,  now,  but  at  the 
time  I  suspected  it  was  one  of  your  con- 
federates." 

"  You  Ve  been  mixed  up  in  a  good  many  cases, 
Morgan,  and  probably  have  some  half -finished 
affairs  in  the  back  of  your  head  right  now.  I 
would  say  that  such'  an  occurrence  could  be  con- 
nected with  any  one  of  these.  On  the  other  hand, 
this  case  is  very  fresh,  and  you  have  been  active 
in  working  it  up.  Some  person  may  be 'trying 
to  find  out  just  how  close  you  are  getting  to  the 
trail,  so  as  to  take  precautions,  if  necessary." 

99 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

At  that  moment  there  was  a  scream  in  the  hall 
outside  Marsh's  door.  Both  men  sprang  to 
their  feet  and  Marsh  leaped  to  the  door. 


100 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE  LA.ST  LETTEB 

AT  THE  same  moment  that  Marsh  opened 
the  door,  Tierney  and  the  man  from 
Headquarters,  who  had  been  taking  the 
photographs,  came  bounding  down  the  stairs 
from  the  third  floor. 

They  all  saw  the  body  of  a  woman  lying 
motionless  on  the  landing. 

"Who  is  it?"  cried  Morgan,  over  Marsh's 
shoulder. 

"Jane  Atwood!"  was  the  sharp  reply. 

With  that  Marsh  stooped  and  took  the  uncon- 
scious girl  up  in  his  arms,  the  unusual  tender- 
ness and  care  of  his  movements  being  plainly 
apparent.  Carrying  her  into  his  apartment, 
while  the  others  followed,  Marsh  laid  her  gently 
on  a  davenport  in  the  living  room. 

"She  must  have  had  a  shock  of  some  kind  and 
fainted,"  exclaimed  Morgan. 

"No,"  returned  Marsh,  as  he  softly  smoothed 
back  the  hair  from  her  forehead,  disclosing  a 

101 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

bruise  that  was  now  rapidly  discoloring  and 
swelling.  "Somebody  knocked  her  insensible." 
Then  added,  "You  sent  your  man  away  too 
soon,  Morgan." 

"My  God!"  burst  out  Morgan.  "What 
nerve !  To  think  of  pulling  anything  like  this  in 
a  house  full  of  detectives." 

"We  have  a  tough  customer  this  time,"  de- 
clared Marsh.  "Ordinary  methods  won't  go. 
Watch  her  while  I  get  some  water." 

Marsh  went  to  the  bathroom  for  a  towel  and 
some  cold  water.  In  the  meantime  Morgan 
turned  sharply  to  Tierney. 

"From  now  on,  while  we  work  on  this  case, 
your  job  is  to  stand  outside  of  every  door  I 
enter." 

Tierney  grinned.  To  some  men  it  might  have 
seemed  that  they  were  being  thrust  into  the 
background.  To  Tierney,  however,  the  work 
immediately  presented  possibilities  that  stirred 
his  fighting  Irish  blood.  Without  a  word  he 
went  out  into  the  public  hall  and  closed  the  door 
Jbehind  him. 

Marsh  returned,  and  began  to  bathe  the  girl's 
forehead  and  the  bruise  with  the  cold  water. 
While  he  worked  over  her,  the  photographer 

102 


THE  LAST  LETTER 

approached    Morgan    and    held    ont    an    en- 
velope. 

"After  your  friend  here  picked  the  girl  up," 
he  explained,  "I  noticed  this  lying  near  her." 

Morgan  took  the  envelope.  After  a  hasty 
glance  he  extended  it  to  Marsh.  "A  letter  to 
this  girl  with  a  St.  Louis  postmark ! "  he  gasped. 

"Good!"  exclaimed  Marsh,  without  stopping 
his  work  to  revive  the  girl.  "Just  what  I  have 
been  watching  for.  Open  it." 

Morgan  understood.  Turning  to  the  photog- 
rapher, he  handed  back  the  envelope.  "Slip 
into  the  kitchen,  steam  this  open  and  make  a 
quick  copy."  Then,  noticing  the  case  on  the 
floor  beside  the  man,  he  added,  "Finished  your 
work  upstairs?" 

The  man  nodded. 

"Then  make  a  photograph  of  this  letter  at  the 
same  time.  The  handwriting  may  prove  useful. ' ' 

Taking  the  letter  and  picking  up  his  case,  the 
man  went  back  to  the  kitchen.  Morgan  turned 
to  Marsh. 

"How  is  she  coming  on?"  he  inquired. 

There  was  a  slight  flutter  of  the  eyelids  as  he 
spoke  and  Marsh  called  his  attention  to  it, 
"She  Will  be  all  right  in  a  moment,"  he  said. 

103 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

Presently  Jane  Atwood's  eyes  opened  slowly, 
and  she  gazed  in  a  bewildered  and  uncompre- 
hending way  at  the  two  men  bending  anxiously 
over  her.  Marsh  continued  to  bathe  her  fore- 
head and  gradually  she  seemed  to  realize  her 
position.  She  struggled  slowly  into  a  sitting 
position  on  the  davenport  while  the  two  men 
stood  back,  awaiting  her  first  words.  Contrary 
to  the  usual  idea  of  feminine  return  to  conscious- 
ness, she  did  not  inquire  where  she  was.  Instead 
she  startled  the  two  men  by  asking,  ''Did  you 
get  him? " 

"Get  who?"  counter  questioned  Marsh,  tak- 
ing the  lead. 

' '  The  man  who  was  outside  the  door, ' '  was  the 
reply. 

Marsh  and  Morgan  exchanged  quick  glances. 
To  them  it  was  a  confirmation  that  the  listener 
of  the  night  before  was  still  seeking  information 
about  the  case  in  hand.  Moreover,  here  might 
be  a  clue  to  his  identity,  or  at  least  a  description 
that  would  prove  helpful,  so  Marsh  seated  him- 
Belf  on  the  davenport  at  her  side,  while  Morgan 
went  to  a  chair  across  the  room. 

Both  men  knew  instinctively  that  this  would 
put  the  girl  more  at  her  ease  than  if  they  con- 

104 


THE  LAST  LETTER 

tinned  to  stand  over  her  like  inquisitors.  Marsh 
continued  the  conversation.  "We  know  nothing 
about  what  happened, "  he  said.  "We  heard  a 
scream.  When  we  opened  the  door  you  were 
lying  there.  No  one  was  around  except  two 
policemen  who  came  down  from  the  third  floor 
at  that  moment,  having  also  heard  your  cry." 

After  this  simple  statement  of  the  situation, 
Marsh  paused,  waiting  for  the  girl  to  go  on.  He 
felt  that  in  her  dazed  and  weakened  condition 
questions  would  still  further  bewilder  her, 
might  even  cause  a  revulsion  that  would  delay 
or  prevent  their  getting  information  that  would 
prove  of  inestimable  value. 

The  girl  paused,  as  if  to  collect  her  thoughts, 
and  passed  her  hand  before  her  eyes  with  a 
motion  similar  to  sweeping  aside  a  curtain. 
Then  she  spoke. 

"I  went  to  the  hairdresser's  in  the  block  be- 
low. Returning,  I  stopped  to  take  a  letter  out 
of  the  mail  box  and  then  started  up  the  stairs  to 
my  apartment."  At  this  point  she  passed  her 
hand  over  her  hair  and  smiled  as  she  realized  Its 
disheveled  appearance  now.  "As  I  turned  up 
the  flight  to  this  floor,  I  saw  a  man  crouched 
down  before  the  door  of  this  apartment.  He  did 

105 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

not  hear  me  until  I  reached  the  top  of  the  stairs* 
Then  he  jumped  up,  and  seeing  me,  tried  to 
push  by.  Remembering  the  burglary,  or  what- 
ever it  was,  upstairs,  I  knew  I  should  try  to  stop 
him.  So  I  seized  his  coat  and  we  started  to 
etruggle.  Instantly  I  saw  him  draw  back  his 
arm,  then  I  felt  the  blow.  I  remember  nothing 
of  what  happened  from  that  moment  until  I 
awoke  just  now  on  this  davenport." 

Marsh  sat  up  and  clenched  his  hands.  "If  I 
knew  what  the  fellow  looked  like  I  would  thrash 
him  the  next  time  I  saw  him,"  he  threatened, 
hoping  thus  to  draw  but  the  description  he 
wanted. 

"Oh,  I  can  describe  him — at  least  in  a  general 
way.  He  was  short,  not  much  over  five  feet,  and 
quite  thin.  His  face  had  a  peaked  look.  While 
we  struggled  his  hat  fell  off  and  I  saw  that  he 
was  almost  bald.  His  nose  was  large,  and  taken 
with  his  thin  face  and  rather  large  bright  eyes, 
it  seems  to  me  now  that  he  looked  just  like  an 
eagle." 

"Had  you  ever  seen  him  before!"  Morgan 
asked. 

"Never,"  she  answered,  and  the  positive  note 
in  her  voice  could  not  be  mistaken. 
106 


THE  LAST  LETTER 

"I  will  send  your  description  to  all  the  sta- 
tions/' said  Morgan.  "We  will  try  to  get  that 
fellow." 

Morgan  went  to  the  telephone  and  called  the 
Detective  Bureau.  He  gave  the  necessary  direc- 
,tions,  and  as  he  returned  to  his  chair,  remarked, 
"In  an  hour  or  two  this  won't  be  a  safe  town  for 
that  fellow." 

"You  are  the  detective  who  came  to  see  me  I" 
exclaimed  the  girl.  "Perhaps  this  is  the  man 
you  are  looking  for. " 

"Perhaps,"  agreed  Morgan.  "I  can  tell 
better  after  I  get  my  hands  on  him. ' ' 

"Oh,  my  I"  cried  the  girl,  and  began  to  search 
about  the  davenport. 

The  two  men  suspected  she  was  looking  for  the 
letter,  and  they  were  relieved  to  see  the  photog- 
rapher appear  in  the  doorway  at  that  moment. 

"Have  you  lost  something?"  inquired  Marsh. 

"Yes,  the  letter  I  took  out  of  the  mail  box." 

"Here  it  is,  Miss,"  said  the  photographer, 
stepping  forward  and  presenting  the  letter  to 
her.  "I  picked  it  up  in  the  hall  where  yon 
dropped  it." 

She  took  if  and  thanked  him.  "I'm  so  glad 
you  found  it,"  she  added.  "It  is  from  my 

107 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

father,  and  I  have  not  heard  from  him  in  a  long 
time.  I  feel  better  now  and  will  go  home." 

She  rose  slowly  with  the  words.  Noting  her 
weakness,  Marsh  stepped  to  her  side  and 
slipped  his  arm  under  hers. 

"Let  me  help  you  up  the  stairs,"  he  said, 
gently. 

"Thank  you,"  she  returned,  simply,  realizing 
her  need  of  help. 

"I'll  wait  until  you  come  back,  Marsh,"  said 
Morgan. 

The  girl  started.  "Are  you  Mr.  Marsh ? ' '  she 
exclaimed.  Then,  as  Marsh  nodded,  she  added, 
"Why,  you  are  the  man  who  sent  this  detective 
up  to  see  me." 

Marsh  glanced  quickly  at  Morgan*  who,  be- 
hind the  girl's  back,  dropped  one  eyelid  slowly 
and  significantly. 

"Well,  you  seemed  the  most  likely  person  to 
have  information,  being  right  on  the  same 
floor,"  Marsh  said,  smiling. 

There  could  be  no  question  that  this  was  a 
natural  explanation,  and  the  girl  seemed  satis- 
fied. With  a  nod  and  a  smile  to  Morgan  and  the 
photographer,  she  allowed  Marsh  to  assist  her 
out  of  the  door  and  up  the  stairs  to  her  apart- 

108 


THE  LAST  LETTER 

ment.  Tierney  rose  from  the  step  where  he 
had  been  sitting,  to  let  her  pass,  and  she  favored 
him  with  one  of  her  pretty  smiles  as  he  did  so. 
Tierney  then  climbed  after  them  to  the  next 
landing  and  stood  watching.  Marsh  waited  until 
the  door  closed  after  her.  Then,  with  a  catch  in 
his  breath  that  sounded  suspiciously  like  a  sigh, 
he  went  back  to  his  apartment.  Tierney  gave 
him  a  peculiar  look  as  he  passed. 

The  photographer  had  gone,  but  Morgan  held 
out  the  copy  which  he  had  made  of  the  letter  as 
soon  as  Marsh  entered,  with  the  remark,  "Now, 
what's  the  game?" 

Marsh  took  it  and  read: 

Mj  dear  Daughter: 

I  have  returned  from  the  last  trip  I  shall  ever  make.  I  have 
never  told  you,  not  wishing  to  cause  you  worry,  but  my  health 
has  been  gradually  failing  for  many  years. 

I  can  no  longer  attend  to  my  duties  on  the  road  and  have 
had  to  give  up  my  position.  The  doctor  gives  me  but  a  few 
months  to  live,  so  rather  than  be  a  burden  to  you  I  have  decided 
to  end  the  thing  at  once.  When  this  letter  reaches  you,  the 
Mississippi  will  be  carrying  my  body  to  the  sea,  where  I  hope 
that  it  will  be  lost  to  the  world  forever. 

Knowing  that  my  time  was  approaching,  I  long  ago  arranged 
for  your  future.  If  you  will  identify  yourself  to  the  National 
Trust  Company,  Chicago,  you  will  find  that  you  have  been  amply 
provided  for.  As  we  do  not  lease  the  apartment  direct  from  the 

109 


THE  SHERIDAN  EOAD  MYSTERY 

owner,  you  had  better  move  out  et  once  and  go  to  an  hotel.    No 
one  can  hold  you  responsible. 

Good  luck  and  success  in  your  music.  God  bless  you,  and 
good-bye. 

Tour  devoted  father. 

"What's  the  game?"  repeated  Morgan,  when 
he  saw  that  Marsh  had  finished  reading  the 
letter. 

"A  convenient  disappearance,  that  is  all,"  re- 
turned Marsh.  "  Things  were  beginning  to  get 
too  hot  for  him.  No  doubt  he  thought  you  were 
getting  closer  than  you  really  were.  Poor  girl, ' ' 
he  added.  ' l  She  will  take  it  as  gospel  truth,  and 
we  dare  not  tell  her  otherwise — not  now,  any- 
way." 

"One  thing  is  certain  in  my  -mind  now," 
asserted  Morgan.  "There  was  a  murder  up- 
stairs. They  planned  to  put  some  person  who 
was  becoming  a  menace,  quietly  out  of  the  way. 
But  you  spoiled  it !" 

"No,  I  did  not  spoil  it,"  said  Marsh.  "The 
shot  did  that.  I  have  felt  for  some  time  that 
that  shot  was  a  mistake — a  slipup  somewhere." 

"I've  got  to  go;  it  is  two  o'clock,"  exclaimed 
Morgan  as  he  looked  at  his  watch.  "Where 
shall  we  hold  future  conferences  ?  I  do  not  want 

110 


THE  LAST  LETTER 

to  be  seen  coming  here  too  often.  It  might  lead 
to  suspicions  of  you,  and  I  think  we  can  accom- 
plish more  if  your  connection  with  the  case  is  not 
made  clear." 

"How  about  your  house?"  inquired  Marsh. 
"Knowing  that  you  are  now  suspicious,  and 
;with.  Tierney  on  the  doorstep,  they  will  probably 
keep  away  from  there  in  the  future." 

"Well,  let  it  stand  at  that  for  the  present," 
agreed  Morgan.  ' '  Telephone  me  when  you  want 
;to  come.  My  number  is  in  the  telephone  book." 

With  that  the  two  men's  hands  met  in  a  strong 
grip  as  if  to  seal  their  future  partnership.  Mor- 
gan opened  the  door  and  then  started  back  with 
a  cry. 

Tierney  lay  stretched  out  across  the  landing, 
apparently  asleep. 

But  Morgan  knew  the  man  better. 


Ill 


CHAPTER  X 

THE  STOLEN  SUITCASE 

THE  placing  of  Tierney  on  guard  in  the  hall 
had  been  an  impulsive  act  on  Morgan's 
part.  It  was  more  to  put  an  idea  into 
immediate  execution  than  to  actually  have  a 
protecting  outpost  at  this  time,  for  the  very 
nature  of  his  experience  would  have  told  Mor- 
gan that  after  the  mysterious  attack  upon  Jane 
Atwood  there  would  he  little  possibility  of  a 
similar  occurrence  the  same  day.  The  instant  he 
saw  Tierney  lying  in  the  hall,  however,  he 
realized  that  the  man  had  been  the  victim  of  a 
somewhat  similar  attack,  and  the  mere  thought 
that  such  a  thing  was  possible  stunned  him  into 
inaction  for  a  moment.  The  next  minute  both 
he  and  Marsh  were  kneeling  at  Tierney 's  side 
and  endeavoring  to  arouse  him. 

Morgan  removed  Tierney 's  cap  and  passed 
his  hand  around  over  the  man's  head  until  he 
found  a  slight  lump,  a  little  back  of  the  right  ear. 

112 


THE  STOLEN  SUITCASE 

"Knocked  out  with  a  black-jack!"  lie  cried. 
"How  conld  a  man  get  that  close  to  Tierney 
withont  being  heard  ! " 

"The  carpet  in  these  halls  and  on  the  stairs 
is  well  padded,"  explained  Marsh.  "I  have 
noticed  on  a  number  of  occasions  that  people 
passing  up  and  down  these  stairs  make  very 
little  noise  unless  a  foot  happens  to  strike  the 
woodwork.  And  you  can  be  sure  of  one  thing, 
Morgan,  this  man  must  have  been  pretty  close 
at  hand.  He  got  into  action  without  having  to 
do  much  climbing." 

"Or  descending,"  added  Morgan,  suddenly, 
looking  at  Marsh. 

"If  he  came  down  the  stairs,  Morgan,  then  the 
girl  has  certainly  been  pulling  the  wool  over  our 
eyes." 

Morgan  shook  his  head  doubtfully.  "Well, 
I'll  acknowledge  that  it  takes  a  pretty  wise 
detective  to  understand  a  woman. ' ' 

At  this  moment,  Tierney  showed  signs  of 
coming  back  to  life.  His  eyes  opened  and  looked 
at  them  with  a  dazed  stare.  Almost  instantly 
this  changed  to  a  savage  glare.  His  two  arms 
shot  up,  seized  the  men  leaning  over  him  and 
pulled  them  down.  Like  most  people  who  have 

113 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

been  knocked  unconscious,  Tierney  had  no 
idea  of  the  intervening  lapse  of  time.  Be- 
fore becoming  nnconscions  he  had  probably 
realized  that  he  was  attacked,  and  he  was 
now  taking  np  the  fight  where  he  had  left 
off. 

"Hold  on,  Tierney — this  is  Morgan — Morgan 
— do  yon  understand?  And  this  is  Marsh  with 
me!" 

The  two  men  held  Tierney  down  until  he 
had  a  chance  to  collect  his  thoughts.  Then 
he  smiled  sheepishly  as  he  looked  from  one  to 
the  other.  "What  the  — I"  he  began;  then 
paused. 

They  jerked  him  to  his  feet  and  set  him  down 
on  the  stair.  There  he  sat  for  a  moment,  rub- 
bing the  sore  spot  on  his  head,  of  which  he  now 
began  to  be  conscious. 

"Guess  I'd  better  resign,"  he  said,  dolefully, 
coming  to  a  full  realization  of  the  situation.  ' '  A 
detective  ain't  much  use  after  he  begins  to  need 
a  bodyguard." 

"Cut  the  nonsense,  Tierney,"  admonished 
Morgan.  * '  Tell  us  what  happened. ' ' 

"That's  what  I'd  like  to  know,"  growled 
Tierney, 

114 


THE  STOLEN  SUITCASE 

"Well  then,"  suggested  Morgan,  "tell  us 
what  happened  np  to  the  point  where  you  don't 
know  anything." 

"Let's  see,"  reflected  Tierney.  "When  you 
sent  me  out  into  the  hall,  the  first  thing  I  did  was 
to  go  part  way  up  this  flight  of  stairs  and  make 
sure  that  all  was  clear  above.  Then  I  sat  down 
exactly  where  I  am  sitting  now,  but  close  to  the 
stair  rail.  I  figured  that  if  anybody  came  up  the 
stairs  I  could  see  him  before  he  spotted  me.  I 
heard  a  couple  of  people  go  out  downstairs,  but 
everything  was  quiet  up  here.  I  kept  my  eye 
on  your  friend  here  while  he  took  the  girl  up- 
stairs. After  he  went  in  I  settled  back  in  the 
same  place  again.  Finally  I  felt  like  a  smoke. 
There  didn't  seem  much  chance  of  anybody  com- 
ing back  again,  so  I  figured  I  might  as  well  have 
a  smoke  and  I  got  out  my  pipe.  While  I  was 
lighting  up,  something  hit  me.  iYou  know  the 
rest  better  than  I  do. " 

"But,"  expostulated  Morgan,  "you're  no 
green  hand,  Tierney.  How  could  anybody  sneak 
up  behind  you  without  your  hearing  them?" 

Tierney  looked  foolish  for  a  moment,  then 
brightened  up.  "Morgan,"  he  said,  "I've  got 
the  dope.  That  old  pipe  of  mine  was  wheezing 

115 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

like  a  sick  horse  when  I  began  to  pull  on  it. 
T.  hat's  what  gave  the  fellow  his  chance.  I'll 
admit  it,  Morgan — I  should  have  known  better 
than  to  light  it  in  the  first  place. " 

"All,  right,  Tierney,  you've  learned  your 
lesson.  But  I'm  afraid  you  let  something  good 
slip  by  you." 

"It  is  my  opinion,"  Marsh  broke  in,  "that  he 
has  let  the  most  important  actor  in  the  drama 
get  away.  The  man  must  have  been  pretty 
desperate  to  take  such  a  chance,  and  I  doubt  if 
anyone  but  the  leading  character  would  have 
been  so  anxious  to  get  away  quickly  and  unseen. 
Now  then,  let  us  go  up  to  the  Atwood  apartment. 
I  will  assume  the  role  of  protector  to  Miss  At- 
wood while  you  two,  whom  she  knows  to  be 
detectives,  can  search  the  flat." 

At  this,  Tierney  stood  up  on  the  stairs  and 
looked  suspiciously  at  Marsh.  Then,  as  Morgan 
agreed  to  the  idea,  Tierney  turned  toward  him 
and  exclaimed,  "Say,  you  gone  crazy?" 

Morgan  gazed  at  him  in  astonishment. 

Marsh  laughed.  "Tierney  is  still  suspicious," 
he  said. 

Morgan's  face  lit  up  with  understanding. 
Going  over  to  Tierney,  he  whispered  in  his  ear. 

116 


THE  STOLEN  SUITCASE 

"Well,  I'm  damned!"  Tierney  mumbled. 

The  three  men  then  climbed  the  stairs  to  the 
Atwood  apartment,  and  Morgan's  hand  was  al- 
ready on  the  push  button  of  the  electric  bell 
when  there  was  an  exclamation  from  Marsh. 

"Stop!"  he  cried.    "Look  here." 

They  instantly  saw  what  he  meant.  The  At- 
wood door  was  standing  open  about  two  inches, 
and  there  was  sufficient  light  in  the  entrance 
hall  of  the  apartment  to  show  that  at  least  no 
one  was  looking  out. 

"Eemember,  I'm  in  the  background  on  this," 
Marsh  whispered  to  Morgan.  "You  two  take 
the  lead — but  be  cautious." 

Morgan  pulled  out  his  revolver  and  Tierney 
followed  his  example.  Then  Morgan  gave  the 
door  a  quick  push  and  stood  back.  It  swung 
back  against  the  wall  with  a  resounding  thud, 
but  outside  of  that  sound  everything  remained 
silent.  The  three  men  then  moved  warily  into 
the  doorway,  with  Tierney  and  Morgan  in  the 
lead.  While  Marsh  remained  in  the  entrance 
hall,  Tierney  stepped  into  the  living  room  and 
Morgan  crept  cautiously  through  the  portieres 
into  the  dining  room.  So  silently  did  these  two 
men  move  that  Marsh  heard  nothing  until,  a  mo- 

117 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

ment  later,  he  saw  Morgan  step  back  through  the 
portieres.  The  doors  of  both  the  bedroom  and 
the  bathroom  stood  open  and  Morgan,  without 
saying  anything  to  Marsh,  investigated  these 
two  rooms.  Then  he  returned  to  the  entrance 
hall  and  spoke  to  Marsh,  who  had  already  been 
joined  by  Tierney. 

"Not  a  soul  in  the  flat  but  the  girl," 
whispered  Morgan.  "She's  in  a  chair  in  the 
dining  room,  and  apparently  unconscious  again. 
There's  an  odor  of  chloroform  in  the  dining 
room!" 

Marsh  sprang  through  the  dining  room  por- 
tieres, followed  by  the  others.  He  found  Jane 
Atwood  in  a  rocking  chair  near  one  of  the  win- 
dows. She  was  apparently  unconscious,  but 
there  were  convulsive  movements  of  her  body. 
Marsh  sniffed  the  aromatic  odor  and  nodded. 
"I  don't  think  they  gave  her  much,"  he  said. 
"She's  just  barely  unconscious.  I'll  try  to  re- 
vive her  while  you  two  look  things  over  more 
carefully." 

Morgan  turned  to  Tierney.  "You  take 
another  look  at  the  front,"  he  directed.  "Look 
through  all  the  drawers  and  closets,  but  be  care- 
ful not  to  leave  anything  upset." 

118 


THE  STOLEN  SUITCASE 

Tierney  promptly  started  on  his  work  of 
investigation.  Morgan  turned  back  into  the 
kitchen.  He  had  previously  noticed  that  the 
maid's  room  was  upset  and  he  wanted  to  ex- 
amine this  room  again.  The  bed  was  made  up, 
but  as  the  linen  was  fresh  and  unwrinkled  it 
seemed  certain  that  no  one  had  occupied  it  re- 
cently. The  chief  cause  of  the  disorder  seemed 
to  have  been  a  hasty  examination  of  the  closet. 
A  roll  of  blankets  and  some  other  articles  that 
had  evidently  been  on  the  shelf  of  the  closet,  had 
been  pulled  down  and  scattered  over  the  bed- 
room floor.  A  couple  of  suits,  and  other  articles 
of  men's  attire,  were  hung  on  the  hooks,  appar- 
ently undisturbed.  Morgan  saw  that  a  speedy 
search  had  been  made  for  something.  "Whether 
or  not  the  object  had  been  found  it  was  impos- 
sible to  say. 

Going  back  into  the  kitchen,  and  trying  the 
rear  door,  he  discovered  that,  though  closed,  it 
was  unlocked.  He  locked  it,  and  returning  to 
the  dining  room,  found  that  Marsh  had  suc- 
ceeded in  reviving  the  girl.  Tierney  was  also 
there,  and  the  two  men  were  chatting  with  her. 

"You  seem  to  be  having  a  good  deal  of  trouble 
today, ' '  said  Morgan,  as  he  neared  her. 

119 


THE  SHERIDAN  EOAD  MYSTERY 

She  smiled  wanly  at  him. 

"I  can't  understand  it  at  all.  Burglars  must 
be  extremely  bold  in  Chicago." 

"Do  you  think  it  was  a  burglar!"  asked  Mor- 
gan. 

"What  else  could  it  be?"  she  returned.  "I 
am  sure  that  I  have  no  enemies  anywhere,  and 
I  haven't  even  any  friends  in  Chicago." 

"Are  you  keeping  anything  of  special  value 
In  the  house  ? ' '  inquired  Morgan. 

"Only  what  you  can  see  about  you,"  she  re- 
plied. "And  these  rings,  which  have  not  been 
touched." 

"You  are  sure  you  didn't  have  anything  of 
value  concealed  in  the  maid's  room?" 

"No,  that's  the  room  my  father  uses  when  he 
comes  home  from  his  trips." 

"Well,  perhaps  he  had  something  of  value 
there." 

"I'm  quite  sure  he  did  not,"  she  said,  posi- 
tively. 

"How  do  you  feel  now,  Miss  Atwood!"  asked 
Marsh,  catching  the  drift  of  the  questioning. 

"Just  a  little  bewildered,"  she  replied,  "and 
slightly  nauseated,  but  I  think  I  shall  be  all  right 
presently." 

120 


THE  STOLEN  SUITCASE 

"Do  you  feel  equal  to  looking  over  that  room 
now?"  Marsh  inquired. 

1  'I  think  so/'  she  said,  and  with  Marsh's 
assistance,  she  arose  from  her  chair. 

Morgan  led  the  way  and  the  girl,  leaning  on 
Marsh's  arm,  followed. 

"You  see,"  said  Morgan,  when  they  had 
reached  the  maid's  room,  "somebody  has  pulled 
everything  off  the  shelf.  Is  there  anything  miss- 
ing as  far  as  you  know?" 

Miss  Atwood  looked  over  the  articles  on  the 
floor,  glanced  at  the  empty  shelf,  and  at  the 
bottom  of  the  closet.  Then  she  turned  to  Mor- 
gan. "My  father  had  a  suitcase  on  that  shelf,'* 

she  said.    "I  do  not  see  it  there  now. ' ' 

i 

* '  Oh, ' '  murmured  Morgan.  f  l  Was  it  an  empty; 
suitcase?" 

"I  really  couldn't  tell  you.  I  never  examined 
it,  as  it  was  always  pretty  well  hidden  under  a 
lot  of  other  things." 

"I  see,"  said  Morgan.  "The  burglar  evi- 
dently stole  only  the  suitcase,  thinking  perhaps 
there  was  something  of  value  in  it.  We  'd  better 
go  now,"  he  added,  turning  to  the  others.  "Miss 
Atwood  will  want  to  lie  down  and  rest  after  her 
exciting  day." 

121 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

When  they  reached  the  front  door,  Morgan 
turned  to  her.  "Do  you  expect  your  father 
home  soon,  Miss  Atwood?"  he  inquired. 

"Oh,"  she  exclaimed,  "I  haven't  read  my 
letter  yet.  You  see,  I  had  just  reached  the  din- 
ing room  when  that  burglar  attacked  me." 

"You  need  not  worry  about  any  further  dis- 
turbances or  attacks,  Miss  Atwood,"  Morgan 
assured  her.  * '  There  will  be  a  policeman  at  the 
front  and  back  of  this  house  inside  of  an  hour, 
and  they  will  stay  here  until  we  clear  up  this 
case." 

"And  remember  that  I  live  close  at  hand,  on 
the  floor  below,  Miss  Atwood, ' '  reminded  Marsh. 
"If  there  is  anything  I  can  do  to  help  you  at  any 
time,  don't  fail  to  call  upon  me." 

' '  Thank  you, ' '  she  replied,  and  closed  the  door 
as  the  men  went  down  the  stairs. 


122 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE  TRAIL  GROWS  CLEARER 

£  £  Y"  "WANT  to  use  yonr  telephone  for  a  min- 
ute," Morgan  said  to  Marsh,  as  they 
went  down  the  stairs.    "I  want  to  have 
men  put  on  duty  here    as    soon   as    possible, 
and  I  think  it  would  be1  well  to  send  out  that 
description  you  have  of  Atwood.     We  might 
catch  him  at  one  of  the  railway  stations,  trying 
to  leave  the  city." 

Marsh  unlocked  the  door  of  his  apartment 
and  Morgan  immediately  went  to  the  telephone. 
He  gave  the  Detective  Bureau  a  description  of 
Atwood,  added  that  the  man  would  probably  be 
carrying  a  suitcase,  and  suggested  that  all  out- 
going trains  be  watched.  Then  he  got  the  cap- 
tain of  the  precinct  on  the  telephone,  and  after 
explaining  the  attacks  that  had  taken  place,  was 
assured  that  two  men  would  be  placed  on  duty  to 
watch  the  house  within  a  few  minutes. 

123 


THE  SHERIDAN  EOAD  MYSTERY 

"Good  Lord,  I'm  starving  to  death!"  cried 
Tierney,  as  Morgan  left  the  telephone.  "What 
time  is  it,  anyway?" 

Morgan  glanced  at  his  watch. 

'  *  Three-thirty, ' '  he  replied.  ' '  Now  you  speak 
of  it,  Tierney,  I  feel  kind  of  hungry  myself. 
How  about  you,  Marsh  ?  ' ' 

"It  was  on  my  mind  to  suggest  a  little 
luncheon,"  returned  Marsh.  "Suppose  we 
run  down  to  Sally's  Waffle  Shop.  It's  only 
a  block  south,  and  it  would  be  a  quiet  place 
to  talk  things  over  while  we  are  eating.  It 
is  a  good  place  to  eat,  too.  I've  had  nearly 
all  of  my  meals  there  since  I  took  this  apart- 
ment." 

The  others  agreeing,  the  three  men  then 
walked  down  to  the  little  restaurant.  As  it  was 
an  off  hour  they  were  able  to  get  a  table  in  a 
secluded  corner  where  their  conversation  could 
not  be  overheard. 

"I  think  this  lunch  should  be  on  me,"  said 
Morgan,  as  he  looked  at  Marsh  with  a  twinkle 
in  his  eye. 

"No,"  objected  Marsh,  "I  should  hardly  call 
you  a  loser.  Your  work  has  really  disclosed  a 
lot." 

124 


THE  TRAIL  GEOWS  CLEARER 

"Anyway,  Headquarters  will  think  you're 
doing  something,  Morgan,"  broke  in  Tierney. 
"AH  those  descriptions  you  shot  over  the  'phone 
today  looked  as  if  you  were  getting  the  dope  on 
somebody." 

"I  suggest,"  said  Marsh,  "that  as  you  fellowa 
have  been  my  guests  most  of  the  day,  you  now 
be  my  guests  for  luncheon.  Order  what  you 
like.  You  can  get  anything  here  from  waffles  to 
a  full  meal." 

"A  big,  fat,  juicy  steak  for  mine!"  cried 
Tierney. 

"Yes,  you're  an  invalid,  aren't  you?"  scoffed 
Morgan. 

Tierney  rubbed  the  bump  on  his  head  and 
grinned. 

They  gave  their  orders  to  the  waitress,  and 
while  waiting,  Morgan  explained  Marsh's  par- 
ticipation in  the  work  in  reply  to  an  anxious 
reminder  from  Tierney.  The  startling  shatter- 
ing of  the  net,  which  they  believed  they  had 
drawn  around  Marsh,  for  once  stunned  Tierney 
into  silence.  When  their  hunger  had  been  partly 
satisfied,  Morgan  reminded  Marsh  that  they  had 
not  yet  analyzed  the  peculiar  situation  dis- 
covered in  the  Atwood  apartment. 

125 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY] 

"I  hurried  you  fellows  out  so  we  could  talk 
over  that  suitcase,"  Morgan  explained.  "Of 
course,  IVe  got  some  ideas  of  my  own,  but  I'd 
like  to  know  what  you  think,  Marsh." 

"Well,"  replied  Marsh,  "if  you  and  Tierney 
will  tell  me  exactly  what  you  discovered,  I'll  tell 
you  what  I  think." 

"My  part's  easy  to  tell,"  said  Tierney.  "I 
didn't  find  anything  suspicious.  I  spent  most  of 
the  time  turning  over  a  lot  of  pink  silk  and  laca 
things  that  almost  made  me  blush.  There  were 
fco  letters  or  photographs,  and  as  far  as  I  could 
see,  none  of  the  things  had  been  disturbed  until 
I  turned  them  over  myself." 

"And  I,"  said  Morgan,  "found  the  mess  that 
you  saw  in  the  maid's  room.  I  also  discovered 
that  the  back  door  was  unlocked. ' ' 

"I  had  a  theory,"  explained  Marsh,  "and 
what  you  say  about  the  back  door  clinches  it. 
Kow,  suppose  you  were  a  crook,  and  had  com- 
mitted a  crime  that,  through  careless  manage- 
ment, had  brought  the  police  right  next  door  to 
your  headquarters ;  the  place  you  had  hoped  to 
reserve  for  emergencies,  as  a  matter  of  fact. 
Suppose  you  had  reason  to  believe  that  they 
would  begin  to  suspect  you.  You  have  long  had 

126 


THE  TEAIL  GROWS  CLEARER 

a  plan  ready  to  throw  the  police  off  the  scent,  if 
anything  should  ever  happen,  by  pretending  to 
make  away  with  yourself.  You  put  the  first  step 
of  this  plan  into  execution  by  sending  a  letter 
stating  that  you  are  now  as  good  as  dead.  Then 
you  suddenly  remember  that  at  your  refuge  you 
have  left  some  important  evidence;  something 
that,  if  discovered,  might  offset  your  well-laid 
plans.  "What  would  you  do?  You'd  try  to  get 
that  evidence,  wouldn't  you? 

"That  is  precisely  what  happened.  Atwoo'd, 
accompanied  by  one  of  his  men,  who  was  to 
stand  guard,  returned  to  his  apartment  to 
secure  that  almost  forgotten  evidence.  Now, 
the  man  he  left  on  guard  heard  some  familiar 
voices,  or  perhaps  a  name  he  recognized.  He 
overlooked  his  duty  for  the  moment  and  tried  to 
listen.  He  was  discovered.  Naturally,  his  first 
thought  was  of  himself,  and  he  made  his  escape. 
Up  in  his  apartment,  Atwood,  who  had  secured 
what  he  sought,  is  ready  to  go,  but  is  delayed  by 
this  disturbance  in  the  hall.  He  doesn't  know 
exactly  what  it  is,  so  he  sticks  close.  Then  he 
thinks  of  making  his  escape  down  the  back 
stairs,  but  unfortunately  some  of  his  feminine 
neighbors  are  gossiping  on  the  stairs  below.  He 

127 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

could  not  go  down  that  way  without  attracting 
attention  that  might  prove  awkward  later.  Sud- 
denly he  hears  the  door  of  his  apartment  open, 
and  some  person  enter.  He  watches,  and  dis- 
covers that  his  daughter  has  come  home,  alone. 
Now,  if  she  should  see  him,  his  well-laid  plan  is 
ruined.  Its  greatest  success  lies  in  her  honest 
conviction  that  he  is  really  dead.  He  is  trapped ; 
front,  rear  and  on  the  premises.  He  is  desper- 
ate. Something  must  be  done  quickly.  In  a 
favorable  moment  he  springs  upon  the  girl  from 
behind  and  renders  her  unconscious  with  chloro- 
form. He  finds  the  back  stairs  still  closed  to 
Mm,  and  in  his  haste  forgets  to  lock  the  door  as 
he  closes  it.  He  finds  a  man  keeping  guard  on 
the  front  stairs.  He  decides  quickly  that  he  can 
deal  better  with  this  man  than  the  women  at  the 
back.  He  watches  and  waits,  leaving  the  door 
open  for  a  quick  retreat.  His  opportunity 
comes  when  this  man's  attention  is  directed  to 
the  lighting  of  a  pipe.  In  a  flash  he  is  down  the 
stairs,  knocks  the  man  unconscious,  and  goes 
out  the  front  door.  The  next  minute  he  is  lost 
in  the  crowds  on  the  street  and  is  free. 

"That,  gentlemen,  is  my  explanation  of  what 
happened  in  the  house  today.    Of  course,  it  is 

128 


THE  TRAIL  GROWS  CLEARER 

largely  theory,  but  I  believe  it  fits  the  case  un- 
commonly well." 

"I'll  say  you're  there!"  cried  Tierney. 

"Yes,"  Morgan  agreed.  "You  talk  as  if  you 
had  been  a  spectator  of  the  whole  occurrence.  I 
doubt  if  a  clearer  explanation  could  be  made, 
and  I  think  you  came  pretty  near  the  truth  when 
you  said  a  little  while  ago  that  we  actually  had 
uncovered  something  today.  There  is  still  a 
mystery  of  some  kind,  but  thanks  to  you,  we  are 
now  in  a  position  to  take  some  definite  steps 
toward  solving  it. 

"Still,  there  is  one  illogical  point  in  your  sur- 
mise. The  letter  from  St.  Louis  arrived  some- 
time this  morning.  If  Atwood  was  in  Chicago 
Tuesday  morning,  how  did  he  get  that  letter  off 
so  quickly?" 

"The  trouble  with  an  analysis  based  chiefly 
on  speculation,  Morgan,  is  that  many  points 
may  seem  illogical  and  unexplained.  "We  can 
only  rely  definitely  upon  the  outstanding  fea- 
tures. However,  I  never  adopt  any  explanation 
unless  it  has  a  basis  in  possibility.  You  remem- 
ber that  a  while  ago  I  told  you  I  thought  that 
shot  was  a  mistake — that  it  was  never  intended 
a  shot  should  be  fired.  Whoever  was  engaged 

129 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

in  that  occurrence  knew  that  the  shot  would  leaH 
to  a  police  investigation,  and  once  the  police 
start,  there  is  no  telling  where  the  matter  may 
end.  To  head  them  off  quickly,  is  it  not  possible 
that  someone  left  immediately  for  St.  Louis  to 
post  that  letter?" 

Morgan  nodded.  "It's  straining  a  point,  but 
it's  quite  possible,  Marsh.  At  least,  we  have  no 
better  explanation." 

They  had  finished  their  meal,  and  after  Marsh 
settled  the  bill,  parted  on  the  sidewalk ;  Marsh  to 
return  to  his  apartment  and  await  developments 
there,  while  Morgan  and  Tierney  undertook 
some  investigations  which  Morgan  had  in  mind. 

On  his  return  to  the  house,  Marsh  noted  with 
satisfaction  that  a  policeman  in  uniform  was 
already  on  duty.  However,  he  wanted  to  make 
sure  that  the  girl  was  all  right,  so  instead  of 
going  directly  to  his  apartment,  he  continued  on 
up  the  stairs  to  the  Atwood  apartment  and  rang 
the  bell.  After  a  slight  pause,  Miss  Atwood 
opened  the  door.  Her  eyes  were  red  with  weep- 
ing, and  she  held  her  handkerchief  so  as  to  part- 
ly conceal  her  face. 

"I  called  to  see  if  everything  was  all  right," 
explained  Marsh.  * '  Why,  what  has  happened  ? '  * 

136 


THE  TKAJL  GEOWS  CLEAEEE 

He  knew  perfectly  well  the  cause  of  the  girl^s 
trouble,  and  he  had  to  struggle  hard  to  assume 
an  air  of  ignorance.  It  tore  his  heart  to  see  thia 
girl,  for  whom  he  felt  a  growing  affection,  in 
such  distress,  knowing  that  all  the  time  he  pos- 
sessed the  knowledge  to  sweep  away  her  grief. 
And  yet  would  it?  Was  it  not  probable  that  a 
girl  like  her  would  feel  even  greater  grief  at  the 
knowledge  that  her  father  was  a  hunted  criminal 
instead  of  merely  dead?  She  presented  a  most 
pitiable  figure  standing  there,  absolutely  alone 
in  the  world.  She  had  gone  through  experiences 
that  day  which  would  have  made  the  average 
woman  collapse,  and  to  cap  it  all  she  had  re- 
ceived the  final  blow  in  the  news  of  her  father's 
death. 

Marsh's  heart  went  out  to  her.  He  longed  to 
take  her  into  his  arms  and  ask  her  to  allow  him 
to  henceforward  be  her  protector.  It  was  hard 
to  hold  himself  in  check,  yet  he  knew  that  it  was 
no  time  for  this  disclosure  of  his  own  feelings. 
Instead,  he  stepped  quietly  through  the  door 
and  sat  down  in  the  living  room,  where  the  girl 
joined  him.  She  wept  silently  for  a  few  mo- 
ments, while  Marsh  sat  and  waited.  At  last  she 
apoke. 

131 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

"My  father  is  dead,  Mr.  Marsh." 

"^What  a  shock  I"  he  exclaimed.  "I  am  so 
sorry.  How  did  it  happen?" 

"You  know  I  received  a  letter  from  him  this 
morning.  It  said  that  his  health  had  failed,  that 
he  could  no  longer  work,  and  that  by  the  time  the 
letter  reached  me  he  would  have  committed 
suicide." 

Marsh's  life  had  been  devoted  to  running 
down  criminals.  He  had  had  very  little  to  do 
with  women  except  those  of  the  criminal  type. 
He  was  at  a  loss,  therefore,  for  words  to  com- 
fort this  delicate  girl.  He  was  further  embar- 
rassed by  the  knowledge  of  facts  which  he  dared 
not  divulge.  Everything  he  said  sounded  crude 
and  rough  in  his  ears,  but  somehow  his  words 
seemed  to  have  a  soothing  effect  on  the  girl  and 
eventually  her  weeping  ceased. 

"She's  a  wonder!"  thought  Marsh.  "The 
bravest  little  woman  I  ever  knew."  Then  ad- 
dressing her,  he  said,  "Miss  Atwood,  after  all 
that  has  happened,  it  is  not  possible  for  you  to 
stay  here  alone  tonight.  You  should  go  to  an 
hotel,  where  you  will  feel  protected  and  secure, 
and  at  least  know  that,  even  though  they  are 
not  your  friends,  you  have  people  all  about 

132 


THE  TKAIL  GROWS  CLEAKER 

you."  He  hesitated  a  moment,  then  added,  "I 
hope  you  will  receive  my  offer  in  the  spirit  in 
which  it  is  intended.  If  you  are  in  any  way 
financially  embarrassed  at  the  moment,  I  would 
be  glad  to  take  care  of  your  hotel  expenses  until 
you  can  straighten  out  your  affairs." 

"Thank  you,  Mr.  Marsh,"  she  returned.  "I 
appreciate  both  your  offer  and  the  spirit  in 
which  you  make  it,  but  I  am  well  provided  with 
funds.  Father  was  always  generous  with  me, 
and  even  in  his  last  letter  he  said  that  he  had 
left  me  well  provided  for." 

"Then  pack  up  a  bag  at  once,  Miss  Atwood, 
and  let  me  escort  you  to  some  hotel.  I  suggest 
the  Monmouth.  It  is  only  a  couple  of  blocks 
away  and  I  know  it  to  be  a  nice,  quiet  family 
hotel  where  the  people  would  be  congenial.  In 
this  time  of  trouble  you  would  find  it  a  comfort 
to  have  a  few  women  friends.  I  think  you  have 
made  a  mistake  in  devoting  so  much  time  to  your 
musical  studies,  while  neglecting  social  oppor- 
tunities." 

The  girl  considered  a  moment,  then,  springing 
up,  said,  "I  will  follow  your  suggestion.  It 
would  be  dreadful  to  stay  here  alone  tonight.  In 
fact,  now  that  I  have  no  one  to  make  a  home  for. 

133 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

it  would  probably  be  better  for  me  to  stay  pc»- 
manently  at  an  hotel." 

She  went  to  her  room  and  prepared  to  leavt 
the  house.  She  soon  reappeared  with  a  bag, 
[which  Marsh  took  from  her.  A  few  minutes 
jlater  they  parted  at  the  desk  of  the  Monmouth 
iHotel,  and  Marsh  returned  to  his  apartment. 

It  was  strange  how  lonely  the  place  seemed, 
now  that  he  knew  the  girl  was  no  longer  under 
the  same  roof  with  him, 


CHAPTER  XH 

MISSING 

TWO  days  had  passed  without  any  word 
from   Morgan,   and  Marsh   himself  had 
made  little  progress  on  the  case,  for  a  large 
part  of  those  two  days  had  been  taken  up  in 
assisting  Jane  Atwood  to  pack  her  personal 
things  and  remove  them  to  her  new  home  in  the 
hotel. 

They  had  been  pleasant  days  for  Marsh,  be- 
cause he  had  derived  considerable  happiness 
from  the  little  services  he  had  been  able  to 
render  the  girl,  and  also  because  it  was  the  first 
time  in  all  the  months  he  had  been  watching  over, 
her  that  he  was  actually  in  her  company. 

During  this  time  Marsh  had  made  one  dis- 
covery of  a  peculiar  nature,  but  its  working  out 
appeared  to  have  no  particular  effect  on  the 
developments  of  the  case.  The  morning  after 
he  escorted  Jane  Atwood  to  the  hotel,  she  had 
returned  to  the  apartment  to  begin  her  packing. 
"While  assisting  in  this,  Marsh  had  suggested 

135 


THE  SHERIDAN  EOAD  MYSTEEY 

that  she  notify  the  man  from  whom  her  father 
had  rented  the  apartment,  so  that  he  could  take 
steps  to  secure  another  tenant.  He  was  amazed 
to  learn  that  she  knew  nothing  whatever  about 
the  matter,  not  even  the  name  of  the  man  from 
whom  they  rented.  So  during  the  morning, 
Marsh  called  at  the  office  of  the  agent  of  the 
building  and  explained  the  situation.  The  agent 
was  surprised,  saying  that  he  had  always  sup- 
posed a  Mr.  Crocker,  whose  name  appeared  on 
the  lease,  occupied  the  apartment  himself.  The 
man's  name  not  appearing  in  the  telephone 
directory,  the  agent  had  suggested  that  he  would 
write  to  the  man's  former  St.  Louis  address. 
Marsh  thought  this  a  good  idea,  and  owing  to 
the  odd  situation  which  had  developed,  left  his 
telephone  number,  suggesting  that  the  agent  let 
him,  know  what  he  heard  in  the  matter. 

The  next  afternoon,  the  real  estate  agent  tele- 
phoned him  that  a  telegram  had  just  arrived 
from  the  man  in  St.  Louis,  stating  that  he  had 
never  rented  any  such  apartment  in  Chicago, 
had  never  signed  any  lease,  and  did  not  know 
anything  about  the  matter.  To  Marsh,  the  situ- 
ation was  obvious.  In  renting  the  apartment 
Atwood  had  used  the  name  of  a  well  known  St. 

136 


MISSING 

Louis  man  so  as  to  have  good  references  and 
close  the  deal  quietly  without  in  any  way  bring- 
ing his  own  name  and  personality  into  the 
matter.  There  was  nothing  in  this  information 
to  help  the  case  in  any  way,  yet  it  created  a 
strange  situation.  Here  was  an  apartment  full 
of  furniture  that  rightfully  belonged  to  the  girl, 
and  yet  he  could  in  no  way  convince  her  of  that 
fact  without  also  disclosing  the  other  circum- 
stances connected  with  the  case.  All  that  they 
Could  do  was  to  walk  out  and  close  the  doou 
behind  them,  leaving  the  problem  to  the  real 
estate  agent  to  solve.  This  they  did  on  Friday 
afternoon,  and  so  far  as  Marsh  was  concerned, 
the  Atwood  apartment  was  of  no  further  inter- 
est, for  it  was  obvious,  now  that  Atwood  was 
supposed  to  be  dead,  no  one  connected  with  him 
would  be  likely  to  ever  again  visit  the  apart- 
ment. He  decided,  however,  to  remain  in  his, 
own  apartment  for  the  present.  The  lease  he 
had  signed  had  still  nearly  a  year  to  run.  He 
was  comfortable,  and  free  to  come  and  go  as  he 
pleased,  without  anyone  noticing  his  movements. 
Then  there  was  no  telling  how  long  he  would 
have  to  remain  in  Chicago,  for  he  felt  that  the 
solution  of  this  case  still  rested  somewhere  with- 

137 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

in  the  city  limits.  At  the  present  moment  he 
was  facing  a  blank  wall,  but  any  day  or  hour 
might  furnish  a  new  clue  that  would  set  things 
moving  again.  In  fact,  he  was  inclined  to  feel 
that  when  he  again  heard  from  Morgan,  the  de- 
tective would  probably  have  valuable  informa- 
tion for  him. 

It  was  Saturday  morning,  and  Marsh,  on  his 
way  back  from  breakfast  at  the  little  waffle  shop, 
purchased  a  copy  of  the  Tribune  and  went  back 
to  his  apartment  to  look  over  the  day's  news. 
No  sooner  had  he  opened  the  paper  than  this 
headline  met  his  eyes : 

PROMINENT  BROKER  MISSING 
Marsh  dropped  the  paper  on  his  knees  and 
thought  for  a  moment.  Ever  since  Tuesday 
morning,  when  the  trouble  had  occurred,  he  had 
carefully  scanned  the  papers  for  reports  of  any 
missing  people  who  might  in  any  way  be  con- 
nected with  this  occurrence.  Here  at  last  was 
an  announcement  that  looked  promising.  He 
began  to  read  the  article. 

Richard  Townsend  Merton,  the  well  known  La  Salle  Street 
broker,  has  been  missing  for  ten  days,  it  was  learned  yesterday. 
Gilbert  Hunt,  the  general  manager  of  the  Merton  business, 
notified  the  police  that  Mr.  Merton  had  not  appeared  at  hi« 

138 


MISSING 

office,  big  clubs,  or  his  hotel  for  some  days.  A  telegraphed 
inquiry  to  his  wife,  who  resides  with  an  invalid  son  in  Arizona, 
brought  the  reply  that  Mr.  Merton  had  not  been  there.  The 
manager  is  inclined  to  believe  that  Mr.  Merton  has  either 
wandered  away  during  a  lapse  of  memory  or  may  have  met 
with  an  accident. 

The  article  then  continued  with  the  usual  out- 
line of  what  the  police  were  doing,  and  a  des- 
cription of  the  broker's  life  and  habits.  Marsh 
learned  from  this  that  Merton  had  closed  his 
country  home  in  Hubbard  Woods  when  his  wife 
moved  to  Arizona  with  their  son.  He  had  lived 
for  the  past  two  years  at  a  downtown  hotel,  and 
spent  most  of  his  evenings  at  his  clubs. 

After  reading  the  entire  article  carefully, 
Marsh  cut  out  the  accompanying  photographs 
of  Merton  and  the  absent  wife  and  son.  Here 
was  something  worth  investigating,  he  thought, 
for  he  remembered  the  cuff  button  with  the 
initial  "M,"  which  Morgan  had  discovered. 

For  upwards  of  an  hour  Marsh  sat  in  deep 
deliberation,  figuring  how  he  could  get  in  close 
touch  with  the  situation  without  in  any  way 
disclosing  his  official  connection  or  real  interest 
in  the  matter.  At  last  he  decided  to  follow  a 
plan  which  he  had  used  successfully  in  connec- 
tion with  two  previous  cases.  He  looked  up  the 

139 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

address  of  the  Merton  offices,  and  putting  on 
his  coat  and  hat,  took  the  Sheridan  Road  motor 
bus  downtown. 

Marsh  located  the  Merton  offices  on  the 
fifteenth  floor  of  the  La  Salle  Trust  Building, 
and  paused  a  moment  inside  the  door  to  look 
the  place  over.  He  found  himself  in  a  large 
room  which  contained  several  stenographers 
and  clerks.  To  his  left  was  a  grill  work  with  a 
window  marked,  " Cashier,"  and  beyond  this, 
several  men  who  were  evidently  bookkeepers. 
In  front  of  him  was  a  railing,  behind  which  sat 
a  girl  at  a  telephone  switchboard.  At  the  other 
side  of  the  room,  doors  opened  into  what 
were  evidently  three  private  offices.  On  the 
first  door  he  saw  the  name,  Mr.  Merton;  on  the 
second,  Mr.  Hunt.  The  third  door  was  blank. 

Approaching  the  girl,  Marsh  inquired  if  Mr. 
Hunt  was  in. 

"  Yes, ' '  she  replied,  looking  him  over.  ' '  Have 
you  a  card?'* 

Marsh  handed  her  a  card  and  she  went  into 
Mr.  Hunt's  office.  In  a  moment  she  returned 
and  said,  "Please  step  in." 

Marsh  entered  Hunt's  office  and  closed  the 
'door  behind  him.  It  was  the  usual  private  office, 

140 


MISSING 

with  a  large  flat  top  desk  in  the  center.  This 
was  so  arranged  that  Hunt's  back  was  to  the 
light,  which  fell  full  upon  any  visitor's  face. 
Some  files,  a  bookcase,  and  a  small  table  littered 
with  papers,  stood  against  the  wall.  Hunt  mo- 
tioned to  a  chair  and  said,  "Sit  down,  please." 
Marsh's  card  lay  before  him  on  the  desk.  He 
picked  it  up  and  read : 

GORDON  MAESH 
Private  Investigator 

Then  looking  at  Marsh  as  he  laid  the  card 
down,  he  said,  "What  can  I  do  for  you?" 

"As  you  see  by  my  card,"  replied  Marsh, 
"my  business  consists  of  conducting  special 
private  investigations.  I  read  in  the  morning 
paper  that  Mr.  Merton  is  missing,  and  I  came  in 
to  see  if  you  would  care  to  use  my  services." 

"I  have  placed  the  entire  matter  in  the  hands 
of  the  police,"  returned  Hunt. 

"You  probably  know,  as  well  as  I  do,  Mr. 
Hunt,  that  that  is  the  next  thing  to  burying  the 
matter.  They  will  be  very  busy  for  a  couple  of 
days  and  then  forget  it." 

"That  is  about  what  I  thought,  Mr.  Marsh," 
admitted  Hunt. 

141 


THE  SHERIDAN  EOAD  MYSTERY 

"But  isn't  it  important,  for  business  reasons, 
that  you  ascertain  definitely,  and  as  quickly  as 
possible,  just  what  has  happened  to  Mr.  Mer- 
ton?"  Marsh  asked. 

"To  a  certain  extent,  yes.  But  Mr.  Merton 
has  left  the  business  entirely  in  my  hands  for 
some  time,  and  things  will  continue  satisfac- 
torily in  his  absence." 

"Then  I  presume  you  wouldn't  care  to  have 
me  conduct  a  private  investigation  on  your  be- 
half, Mr.  Hunt?" 

"Well,  I'll  tell  you,  Mr.  Marsh,"  said  Hunt. 
"Until  you  presented  your  card  to  me  this  morn- 
ing, the  thought  of  doing  anything  beside  notify- 
ing the  police  had  not  occurred  to  me.  Let  me 
think  for  a  minute." 

"With  that,  Hunt  swung  his  chair  around  so 
that  his  back  was  toward  Marsh,  and  gazed 
thoughtfully  out  of  the  window  for  a  few 
minutes. 

"In  your  work,"  he  said  at  length,  swinging 
around  toward  Marsh  once  more,  "you  prob- 
ably come  into  more  or  less  close  contact  with 
the  police.  I  mean  by  that,  that  you  would  work 
with  them  more  or  less  on  a  case  of  this 
kind." 

142 


MISSING 

"Certainly,"  replied  Marsh.  "I  follow  up 
every  likely  clue,  including  everything  which 
may  be  unearthed  by  the  police." 

"After  thinking  it  over,  it  may  be  that  we  can 
come  to  some  arrangement,  Mr.  Marsh,"  said 
Hunt.  ' '  What  are  your  terms  ? ' ' 

"My  charges  are  $25.00  a  day,  and  expenses," 
said  Marsh. 

"Whew!"  whistled  Hunt,  "that's  pretty 
steep.  I  could  hire  all  the  private  detectives  I 
wanted  for  ten  dollars  a  day." 

"But  I'm  not  a  regular  detective,"  protested 
Marsh.  "I'm  an  investigator." 

"You  make  a  distinction,  do  you?"  smiled 
Hunt. 

"Absolutely,"  asserted  Marsh.  "I  merely 
dig  up  the  facts  and  turn  them  over  to  you  for 
any  action  you  see  fit.  My  investigative  work 
could  hardly  be  classed  with  the  ordinary  work 
of  the  detective." 

Hunt  clasped  his  hands  before  him  on  the 
desk.  After  a  moment's  thought,  he  said,  "All 
right,  Marsh,  I'm  going  to  engage  you.  See 
what  you  can  discover,  and  report  to  me  when- 
ever you  think  you  are  making  progress.  In- 
cidentally, keep  your  eye  on  the  police  and  see 

143 


JHE  SHEEIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

what  they  are  doing.  As  long  as  you  are  work- 
ing on  this  job  for  me,  it  will  be  curious  to  see 
just  how  effective  our  police  really  are.  Now,  I 
suppose  you  want  to  ask  some  questions.'* 

"Yes,"  said  Marsh,  "one  or  two;  although 
as  a  rule  I  prefer  to  start  with  my  mind  as  free 
as  possible.  Mr.  Merton  has  been  living  at  the 
La  Salle  Hotel,  I  understand?" 

"Yes." 

"How  long  has  he  been  living  there!" 

"Two  years." 

"I  suppose  I  can  find  out  something  of  his 
habits  there." 

"I  think  I  get  your  drift,  Marsh,"  said  Hunt, 
with  a  smile.  "I  can  assure  you  from  my  per- 
sonal knowledge,  that  Mr.  Merton  has  led  a  very 
quiet  and  most  exemplary  life.  Practically  all 
his  evenings  have  been  passed  at  the  University 
and  Chicago  Athletic  Clubs,  and  I  believe  that 
occasionally  he  dropped  into  the  Hamilton  Club, 
of  which  he  is  a  member. ' ' 

"Why  did  his  wife  go  to  Arizona!"  inquired 
Marsh. 

"The  boy  has  weak  lungs  and  the  doctors 
said  his  life  could  be  saved  only  by  several 
years*  residence  in  the  Arizona  climate.  Mrs. 

144 


MISSING 

Merton  worships  the  boy  and  insisted  upon  go- 
ing with  him.  They  have  been  there  two  years. ' ' 

"When  do  you  expect  them  back?"  asked 
Marsh. 

"I  understand  the  boy  is  not  much  better.  It 
might  be  years  before  they  return,  unless  the 
boy  should  die." 

Marsh  thought  a  moment,  then  said,  "You 
mentioned  before  that  the  business  could  go  on 
without  Mr.  Merton.  I  presume  he  has  given 
you  power  of  attorney?" 

"Yes,"  said  Hunt. 

"In  case  of  his  death,  Mr.  Hunt,  who  would  be 
his  executors?" 

"I  cannot  see  that  that  has  any  bearing  on  the 
case." 

1 ' Perhaps  not, ' '  said  Marsh,  "but  I  am  follow-- 
ing  a  line  of  thought." 

"Well,"  returned  Hunt,  "if  it's  of  any  use  to 
you,  I  may  say  that  I  will  be  the  sole  executor." 

"It  was  a  very  wise  move  on  your  part  to 
employ  me  in  this  matter,  Mr.  Hunt,  in  view  of 
that  fact." 

"How  so?"  inquired  Hunt. 

"Because  to  the  outsider  it  might  appear  that 
you  had  some  personal  interest  in  Mr.  Merton 's 

145 


THE  SHERIDAN  EOAD  MYSTERY 

disapp  earance.  You  know,  s  ometime  s  the  p  olice 
are  stupidly  suspicious." 

Hunt  sat  up  with  a  start.  "You  have  given 
me  food  for  thought,  Marsh,"  he  said.  "I 
hadn't  looked  at  the  matter  in  that  light  be- 
fore." 

"Well,"  returned  Marsh,  "you  can  now  see 
that  my  investigations  and  reports  will  be  of 
the  utmost  value  to  you.  Furthermore,  as  you 
have  already  suggested,  I  can  keep  my  ear  to 
the  ground  where  the  police  are  concerned,  and 
keep  you  advised  of  what  is  going  on. ' ' 

' l  Mr.  Marsh, ' '  said  Hunt,  rising.  '  *  I  am  very 
glad  you  came  in  to  see  me.  You  can  count  upon 
my  keeping  you  on  this  job  until  everything  is 
settled." 

"One  more  question,"  said  Marsh,  also  rising. 
*'I  noticed  a  mention  of  Mr.  Melton's  country 
house.  Has  anyone  looked  to  see  if  Mr.  Merton 
could  by  any  chance  have  gone  there  because  of 
illness,  or  for  some  other  reason?" 

"I  know  positively  he  is  not  there,"  Hunt 
replied.  "I  keep  a  caretaker  on  the  premises, 
and  occasionally  look  over  the  place  myself  to 
make  sure  that  everything  is  all  right.  The 
caretaker  assures  me  that  Mr.  Merton  has  not 

146 


MISSING 

been  near  the  place  since  lie  closed  the  house  two 
years  ago." 

"One  thing  more,  Mr.  Hunt,  before  I  go. 
People  sometimes  question  my  right  to  investi- 
gate. Will  you  give  me  a  line  stating  that  I  am 
authorized  to  represent  you  in  this  matter!" 

"  Certainly. "  Hunt  sat  down  at  his  desk  and 
hastily  penned  a  few  lines  on  a  sheet  of  letter 
paper,  which  he  then  handed  to  Marsh. 

Marsh  carefully  folded  the  paper,  placed  it  in 
his  pocket-book,  and  bidding  Hunt  good  day, 
went  out. 


147 


CHAPTER  xrn 

STARTLING  DISCLOSURES 

{{TTTTHY  is  it  that  business  men,  who 
V  V  pride  themselves  on  their  astuteness, 
almost  invariably  slip  up  some- 
where ?"  thought  Marsh,  as  he  left  the  La  Salle 
Trust  Building  and  walked  north  on  La  Salle 
Street.  This  thought  was  occasioned  by  the  fact 
that  Hunt  had  neglected  to  ask  Marsh  for  his 
address  and  telephone  number.  It  might  be,  of 
course,  that  the  man  had  taken  it  for  granted 
that  his  name  and  address  would  be  readily 
found  in  the  telephone  directory.  Though  this 
explanation  passed  through  his  mind,  he  was 
more  inclined  to  believe  that  Hunt's  intense 
interest  in  the  matter,  or  possibly  a  newly 
aroused  fear,  created  by  Marsh's  reference  to 
the  peculiar  attitude  in  which  he  was  placed, 
had  driven  the  subject  of  details  out  of  Hunt's 
mind. 

Marsh  had  come  downtown  with  the  intention 
of  giving  his  present  address,  but  as  the  inter- 

148 


STARTLING    DISCLOSURES 

view  progressed,  a  feeling  grew  upon  him  that 
it  might  be  just  as  well,  at  this  time,  to  give 
some  downtown  business  address.  The  fact 
that  no  inquiry  had  been  made  on  this  point  re- 
lieved him  of  the  necessity  of  giving  a  fictitious 
address  on  the  spur  of  the  moment.  His  next 
step,  however,  must  be  the  securing  of  such  an 
address,  for  it  was  beyond  question  that  during 
his  next  interview  with  Hunt  this  information 
would  have  to  be  given. 

Marsh  glanced  over  his  shoulder  at  the  great 
clock  in  the  Board  of  Trade  Building,  which 
keeps  guard  over  La  Salle  Street.  It  was  just 
twelve  o  'clock,  and  he  reasoned  that  the  people 
he  contemplated  questioning  would  probably  be 
going  to  lunch.  He  decided  to  spend  the  next 
hour,  therefore,  in  securing  some  sort  of  office 
address.  By  this  time  he  had  reached  Madison 
Street,  and  turning  east,  looked  over  the  build- 
ings as  he  passed  along,  with  the  idea  of  select* 
ing  one  in  which  a  temporary  office  might  be 
secured.  At  the  corner  of  Madison  Street  and 
Wabash  Avenue,  he  stopped  and  looked  around 
him.  On  one  corner  was  the  building  of  a  great 
department  store.  On  the  other  three  corners, 
big  office  buildings  towered  above  him.  At  this 

149 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

corner  also  there  was  one  of  the  Madison  Street 
stations  of  the  elevated  railroad  system.  Cer- 
tainly, it  was  a  most  logical  location  for  a  man 
in  his  supposed  line  of  work,  so  he  entered  one 
of  the  buildings,  approached  the  starter  in  front 
of  the  elevators,  and  inquired  if  he  knew  anyone 
who  would  rent  desk  room.  The  starter  fur- 
nished him  with  the  names  and  room  numbers  of 
two  places  where  he  might  inquire.  The  first  of 
these  which  he  visited  proved  satisfactory.  He 
arranged  with  the  young  woman  in  charge  to 
receive  all  mail  and  telephone  calls  for  him  and 
forward  these  to  his  regular  address.  Making 
a  note  of  the  telephone  number,  he  paid  two 
month's  rent  in  advance  so  as  to  get  the  matter 
off  his  mind,  and  returned  to  the  street.  The 
details  of  this  arrangement  had  taken  but  a 
short  time,  so  Marsh  went  up  to  the  men's  grill 
maintained  by  a  nearby  department  store, 
intending  to  eat  a  leisurely  luncheon  in  one  of 
the  secluded  booths. 

As  he  sat  studying  the  menu,  a  small  finger 
suddenly  began  to  direct  his  attention  to  certain 
items,  while  a  soft  voice  whispered  in  his  ear, 
"How  do  you  do,  Mr.  Marsh?" 

In  work  such  as  his,  startling  things  were  apt 
150 


STARTLING    DISCLOSURES 

to  occur  at  any  moment,  so  Marsh  gave  no  out- 
ward indication  of  his  surprise. 

"How  do  you  do,"  he  returned,  without 
looking  up,  but  his  mind  was  working  rapidly  to 
place  the  voice. 

"What  are  you  doing  here?"  the  voice 
asked. 

"You  know  better  than  to  ask  that  question, 
Miss  Allen."  Marsh  now  glanced  up  with  a 
smile. 

The  waitress  stood  up,  and  to  anyone  across 
the  room  it  would  have  appeared  as  if  they  were 
merely  discussing  his  order,  which  she  was 
writing  on  a  pad. 

"If  you  are  still  engaged  in  counterfeiting 
work,"  she  said,  "I  may  be  able  to  give  you  a 
valuable  tip." 

"All  right,"  said  Marsh,  "bring  me  one  of 
these  oyster  pies  and  a  cup  of  coffee.  We'll 
have  a  chat  when  you  come  back." 

In  a  few  minutes  she  was  back  with  his  order 
and  talked  rapidly  in  a  guarded  voice  as  she 
placed  the  silver  on  the  table  and  arranged  his 
dishes. 

"About  this  time  yesterday  I  had  four  men 
at  this  table  and  caught  snatches  of  their  con- 

151 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

•r 

versation.  I  put  the  facts  together  about  like 
this:  There  is  a  house  in  the  suburbs,  near 
Chicago,  where  a  counterfeiting  plant  has  been 
in  operation.  In  some  way  the  attention  of  the 
police  has  been  attracted,  and  the  whole  outfit  is 
to  be  cleaned  out  as  soon  as  they  think  they  can 
get  away  safely.  I  have  no  idea  regarding  the 
location,  but  if  you  are  looking  anything  up  this 
may  be  a  hint  for  you." 

"Thanks,  Miss  Allen.    It  is  a  hint." 
"Without  further  words,  she  hurried  away  to 
attend  to  another  table. 

Marsh  knew  that  the  girl  who  had  just  given 
him  this  information  was  a  Government  opera- 
tive, like  himself.  He  would  have  liked  to  learn 
more,  if  possible,  especially  descriptions  of  the 
men,  but  he  did  not  know  the  nature  of  the  work 
she  was  engaged  in,  and  feared  that  any  further 
contact  between  them  might  be  unwise.  For 
a  moment  he  thought  of  slipping  her  his  tele- 
phone number,  but  the  cautiousness  bred  by 
years  of  experience  warned  him  that  telephones, 
like  walls,  sometimes  have  ears.  However,  he 
realized  that  she  had  told  him  something  worth 
while.  It  was  unlikely  that  there  was  more  than 
one  counterfeiting  band  in  Chicago  at  this  time. 

152 


STARTLING   DISCLOSURES 

She  had  given"  him  a  clue,  which,  like  the  cuff 
button,  might  tie  up  at  any  moment  with  some 
other  developments.  Moreover,  he  now  knew 
that  his  men  were  planning  to  get  away  and  that 
something  must  be  done  in  a  hurry.  After  fin- 
ishing his  luncheon  he  wrote  his  newly  acquired 
downtown  address  on  a  slip  of  paper,  wrapped 
it  in  a  bill,  and  then  signaled  to  the  girl  that  he 
desired  his  check.  He  handed  her  the  bill  care- 
lessly, and  said  in  a  low  voice,  without  looking 
up, ' l  Something  inside  for  you. '  *  She  returned 
in  a  moment  with  his  change,  and  as  she  laid  it 
on  the  table,  said  simply,  "I  understand." 
Marsh  then  started  out  on  his  search  for  infor- 
mation regarding  Merton. 

While  Marsh  was  confident  that  he  would  get 
the  most  important  part  of  his  information  at 
the  hotel  where  Merton  had  lived,  he  decided  to 
work  up  to  that  point  rather  than  start  there. 
One  reason  for  this  decision  lay  in  the  fact  that 
night  employees  of  the  hotel  could  probably 
give  him  more  valuable  information  regarding 
Merton 's  movements  than  those  on  duty  during 
the  day.  He  was  only  a  block  from  Michigan 
Avenue,  where  the  clubs  at  which  Merton  spent 
most  of  his  time  were  located.  At  these  places 

153 


THE  SHEEIDAN  EOAD  MYSTERY 

he  secured  little  information  that  would  further 
his  quest.  Merton  had  impressed  the  employees 
of  the  clubs  simply  as  a  quiet  man  who  had 
dropped  in  to  read  his  newspaper  or  book,  or 
have  quiet  chats  with  other  members  with  whom 
he  was  acquainted.  Occasionally  he  was  known 
to  engage  in  a  game  of  billiards  or  cards.  It 
was  hardly  the  life  of  a  man  who  could  have  such 
close  associations  with  a  gang  of  counterfeiters 
as  to  draw  upon  himself  an  act  of  revenge  or  the 
necessity  of  removing  him  as  a  matter  of  pro- 
tection. So  far  as  Marsh  could  discover,  Merton 
had  never  presented  a  questionable  bill  to  the 
clubs.  In  fact,  so  far  as  anyone  connected  with 
them  could  recollect,  all  payments  of  any 
character  had  been  made  by  check.  Marsh  had 
pursued  inquiries  along  this  line,  because,  while 
almost  anyone  is  liable  at  one  time  or  another, 
to  be  in  possession  of  counterfeit  money,  such  a 
happening  in  Merton 's  case  might  have  pos- 
sessed unusual  significance.  It  was  Maneh's 
desire  to  ascertain,  so  far  as  possible,  if  there 
had  been  any  connection  of  even  a  remote 
character,  between  Merton  and  the  counter- 
feiters. Unless  some  such  connection  were 
established,  it  would  be  hard  to  believe  that 

154 


STARTLING    DISCLOSURES 

Merton  had  been  the  Sheridan  Road  victim. 
Yet  the  coincidences  of  this  disappearance,  the 
evidences  of  a  crime,  and  the  cuff  button 
initialed  "M,"  possessed  too  strong  a  signifi- 
cance to  be  entirely  disregarded. 

At  the  third  club  Marsh  secured  practically 
no  information.  Merton  had  been  an  infre- 
quent visitor  and  had  made  little  or  no 
impression  upon  the  employees. 

Walking  north  on  Dearborn  Street  and  across 
Madison  Street,  on  his  way  from  this  club  to 
Merton 's  hotel,  Marsh  thought  quickly.  If  he 
could  not  at  this  time  establish  a  connection, 
then  at  least  he  would  try  to  ascertain  the 
nature  of  the  bait  which  had  been  held  out  to 
take  this  man  of  quiet  habits  to  the  North  Side 
at  two  o  'clock  in  the  morning. 

On  reaching  the  hotel  he  found  that  it  was 
still  too  early  to  interview  the  people  he  wished 
to  see,  so  he  sat  down  in  one  of  the  big  chairs 
in  the  lobby  to  pass  the  time  studying  the 
aspects  of  the  case. 

Even  when  his  mind  was  busy,  Marsh's  eyes 
were  on  the  alert,  and  faces  met  under  the  most 
trivial  circumstances,  photographed  themselves 
upon  his  memory.  His  eyes  rested  casually 

155 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

upon  a  man  who  sat  opposite  him,  looking  over 
an  evening  paper.  Gradually  Marsh  began  to 
feel  that  the  face  was  familiar.  With  this 
realization  came  the  recollection  that  the  man 
had  seated  himself  very  quickly  after  Marsh 
had  selected  his  chair.  Perhaps  his  recognition 
of  the  face  was  something  that  came  out  of  the 
past,  but  Marsh  always  endeavored  to  connect 
every  noticeable  incident  with  the  problem  of 
the  moment.  It  was  not  long,  therefore,  before 
he  had  placed  the  man.  On  coming  out  of  the 
office  building  where  he  had  made  his  temporary 
address  arrangements,  he  had  passed  this  man 
standing  near  the  door  and  also  remembered 
seeing  the  same  man  in  the  grill  room  where  he 
had  lunched.  The  fact  that  the  man  was 
.now  seated  near  him  in  the  hotel  lobby  was  more 
than  a  coincidence.  Marsh's  eyes  roved  about 
the  lobby  with  apparently  careless  interest,  and 
not  even  the  man  across  from  him  could  have 
guessed  that  he  had  noted  anything  or  become 
more  watchful  than  before.  However,  he  was 
planning  action.  If  this  man  was  watching  him 
there  could  be  but  one  reason — his  connection 
with  the  present  case.  If  he  was  connected 
with  this  case  then  he  was  evidently  one  of 

156 


STAETLING    DISCLOSUBES 

the  men  they  wanted.  Marsh  intended  to  be 
sure. 

To  change  the  situation  from  watched  to 
watcher  would  involve  some  quick  and  clever; 
work.  Marsh  pondered. 

As  the  bell  boy  passed  Marsh  called  to  him. 
Slipping  a  coin  into  the  boy's  hand,  he  said,  "I 
had  an  appointment  here  with  a  Mr.  Morgan. 
See  if  you  can  locate  him."  As  the  boy  started 
off,  calling  the  name,  Marsh  watched  the  man 
opposite  out  of  the  corner  of  his  eye.  The  man 
threw  down  his  newspaper,  stretched  and 
yawned,  while  his  eyes  wandered  about  the 
lobby.  His  movements  were  of  a  very  casual 
sort,  but  to  Marsh's  watchful  eye  it  was  notice- 
able that  his  glances  were  actually  following  the 
bell  boy  seeking  Morgan.  Marsh  was  now  con- 
vinced that  his  actions  were  under  surveillance, 
and  he  next  planned  how  to  throw  the  man  off. 
As  he  sat  intent  on  this  problem,  he  was  startled 
to  hear  the  bell  boy  say,  "Here's  the  gentleman, 
sir,"  and  looking  up,  Marsh  saw;  Morgan 
standing  in  front  of  him. 

The  training  of  both  men  forbade  any  indi- 
cation of  the  astonishment  both  felt,  but  looking 
into  the  other's  eyes,  each  read  the  question 

157 


[E  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

there.  Marsh  jumped  np,  and  holding  out  his 
hand,  exclaimed  boisterously,  "Where  have  you 
been  hiding  yourself  ?  I'd  about  given  you  up. ' ' 

"I'm  sorry  I  am  late,"  apologized  Morgan, 
in  an  equally  loud  voice,  taking  the  cue.  He 
pulled  an  adjoining  chair  close  to  Marsh  and  sat 
down. 

"Now,"  said  Marsh,  in  a  low  voice,  "it  is 
probably  needless  to  tell  you  not  to  make  your 
observation  too  obvious,  but  I  want  to  call  your 
attention  to  the  man  sitting  opposite." 

Morgan  nodded. 

"He  has  been  following  me  all  the  after- 
noon," continued  Marsh,  in  the  same  guarded 
voice.  "As  long  as  I  sit  here  I  surmise  that  he 
will  stay  where  he  is.  That  will  give  you  time 
to  slip  out,  pick  up  one  of  your  men,  and  get  him 
on  the  job.  I  suspect  it  will  be  worth  while  get- 
ting a  line  on  him." 

"That's  easy,"  returned  Morgan.  "I'll  hava 
him  locked  up  inside  of  the  next  ten  minutes." 

"No,"  said  Marsh,  "that  would  be  taking  too 
big  a  chance." 

"On  the  contrary,"  said  Morgan,  "it  would 
be  taking  no  chance  at  all.  That  man  has  been 
wanted  for  a  year  for  putting  over  a  confidence 

158 


STARTLING    DISCLOSURES 

game.  I  won't  mention  any  names  because  lips 
sometimes  tell  stories  to  watchful  eyes.  You 
just  sit  here  and  you'll  see  something  in  a  few 
minutes."  With  that,  Morgan  went  out. 

A  few  minutes  later  a  man  strolled  through 
the  lobby  and  approached  the  stranger.  He 
leaned  over  and  whispered  to  him  and  the  two 
went  out  together.  Marsh  was  congratulating 
himself  that  when  this  man  got  to  Headquarters 
he  might  be  made  to  talk  to  some  effect,  when 
Morgan  and  another  man,  whom  Marsh  easily 
recognized  as  a  detective,  approached. 

"Where  in  blazes  did  your  man  go?"  ex- 
claimed Morgan. 

Marsh  stared  for  a  moment.  ' '  Why  I  thought 
your  man  got  him,"  he  said.  "Somebody  came 
in  and  quietly  took  him  out." 

"Good-night!"  exclaimed  Morgan.  "Some- 
body must  have  tipped  him  off."  He  turned  to> 
the  man  with  him.  "No  use  hanging  around 
now.  Our  bird's  flown." 

As  the  man  left  them  Morgan  sat  down  again 
beside  Marsh.  "How  the  deuce  did  you  know 
I  was  here  f "  he  asked. 

"I  didn't,"  returned  Marsh.  "I  had  that  bell 
boy  page  you  to  test  the  man  across  from  me. 

159 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

I  never  had  such  a  surprise  in  my  life  as  when 
you  turned  up.  What  were  you  doing  here?" 
he  added. 

"The  Chief  asked  me  to  look  into  this  Merton 
case.  What  were  you  doing  here  ? ' ' 

"The  same  thing,"  replied  Marsh. 

"Looking  up  Merton?" 

"Yes." 

"Well,  that's  funny.    What  for?" 

"Because  I  strongly  suspect  he  is  the  mur- 
dered man  in  our  case." 

Morgan  gasped. 


160 


CHAPTER  XIV 

THE  NIGHT  CALL 

AS  MORGAN  recovered  from  his  astonish- 
ment,  Marsh  anticipated  some  leading 
questions.  He  headed  these  off  at  this 
time,  by  saying,  "In  this  case,  conditions  seem 
to  be  somewhat  reversed ;  for  up  to  this  time  we 
have  f onnd  practically  no  one  who  could  be  put 
under  surveillance,  yet  we  have  every  evidence 
that  we  are  being  carefully  watched  by  others. 
Several  incidents  have  occurred,  including  the 
present  little  drama  which  convinces  us  of  that 
fact.  There  is  no  question  that  we  should  again 
compare  notes  as  soon  as  possible,  but  this  is  a 
dangerous  place  to  discuss  the  case.  I  came 
here  to  question  certain  people.  As  they  will 
not  be  on  duty  until  later  there  is  nothing  I  can 
do  along  that  line  for  a  little  while.  In  the  mean- 
time, we  ought  to  look  over  Merton's  rooms 
upstairs.  I  could  not  make  an  attempt  to  do 
this,  because  I  do  not  possess  the  proper 

161 


authority  without  explaining  my  real  connec- 
tions. You,  however,  as  a  city  detective  en- 
gaged on  the  case,  will  have  no  difficulty  in  mak- 
ing arrangements  to  inspect  his  room." 

"That  is  just  what  I  dropped  in  to  do," 
replied  Morgan. 

"Then  go  ahead  and  make  your  arrange- 
ments," said  Marsh,  "and  when  you  are  ready, 
let  me  go  up  with  you.  If  we  meet  anyone, 
remember  that  I  am  working  under  the  special 
authorization  of  Mr.  Hunt,  and  you  and  I  have 
just  become  acquainted." 

Morgan  went  to  the  hotel  office.  In  a  few 
minutes  he  returned  with  a  bell  boy  and  nodded 
to  Marsh.  Guided  by  the  bell  boy,  they  took  an 
elevator  and  ascended  to  Merton's  rooms,  which 
they  found  consisted  of  a  sitting  room,  bedroom 
and  bath.  Obeying  instructions,  the  bell  boy  at 
once  retired  and  closed  the  door  after  him. 

They  first  inspected  the  bedroom,  giving 
special  attention  to  the  dresser.  This  contained 
nothing  save  the  usual  supply  of  clothing,  which 
served  no  other  purpose  than  to  indicate  the 
wealth  and  conservative  taste  of  the  owner. 
Marsh  particularly  sought  some  jewelry  that 
might  help  to  identify  the  cuff  button  as  the 

162 


THE  NIGHT  CALL 

property  of  the  lost  man.  He  found  nothing, 
however,  and  considered  it  probable  that  what- 
ever jewelry  Merton  owned  was  on  his  person. 
From  the  bedroom  the  two  men  went  to  the 
sitting  room,  which  they  hoped  would  hold 
greater  possibilities,  for  a  desk  stood  in  one 
corner  near  a  window.  A  framed  photograph 
of  Merton 's  wife  and  son,  standing  on  top  of  the 
desk,  of  course  had  no  significance.  They  then 
began  a  search  of  the  drawers  and  the  interior 
of  the  desk. 

"Probably  you  have  noticed,"  said  Marsh, 
after  a  moment,  "the  disordered  condition  of 
this  desk." 

"Now  that  you  speak  of  it,"  agreed  Morgan, 
"I  think  it  is  pretty  well  mussed  up." 

"I  should  say,"  commented  Marsh,  "that 
dither  Merton  is  very  careless,  or  else  we  are  not 
the  first  people  to  examine  this  desk." 

"Probably  the  desk  has  been  gone  over, 
Marsh,"  acceded  Morgan.  "But  you  must 
remember  that  Merton  has  been  known  to  be 
missing  for  several  days  and  hotel  employees, 
even  under  ordinary  circumstances,  are  apt  to 
be  curious.  The  point  is  worth  remembering, 
but  I  doubt  if  it  is  of  any  importance." 

163 


THE  SHEEIDAN  EOAD  MYSTERY 

One  by  one,  they  examined  various  letters  and 
papers.  A  few  touched  on  business  subjects, 
but  the  majority  were  of  a  personal  nature. 
Most  of  these  were  from  Merton's  wife;  the 
others  from  business  men  whose  well  known 
names  placed  them  beyond  suspicion.  In  one 
corner  of  the  desk  Morgan  picked  up  a  sheet 
containing  some  notations  regarding  bond  pur- 
chases. Beneath  this  he  found  a  black,  leather- 
covered  notebook  of  a  size  that  would  conveni- 
ently fit  into  a  vest  pocket.  One  glance  into  this 
and  Morgan  gave  an  exclamation.  l '  See  here ! ' ' 
he  cried,  calling  Marsh's  attention  to  the  book. 
' l  This  notebook  has  been  kept  in  cipher.  These 
combinations  of  letters  and  figures  mean  abso- 
lutely nothing  as  they  stand. ' ' 

The  two  men  slowly  turned  the  pages,  but  as 
Morgan  had  stated,  the  matter  which  the  book 
contained  conveyed  nothing  to  them. 

"That  looks  as  if  Merton  had  something  to 
conceal,  Marsh." 

"On  the  face  of  it — yes,"  returned  Marsh. 
"But  just  glance  at  this  sheet  which  covered  the 
notebook.  From  its  subject  matter  I  should  be 
inclined  to  believe  that  it  represented  Merton's 
handwriting." 

164 


THE  NIGHT  CALL 

Morgan  nodded  and  Marsh  went  on. 

"Now,  when  you  come  to  look  at  this  notebook, 
even  a  hasty  glance  shows  a  difference  in  the 
handwriting.  In  fact,  now  that  my  attention 
has  been  drawn  to  it,  there  is  really  a  marked 
difference." 

"Well!"  queried  Morgan. 

"Offhand,"  returned  Marsh,  "I  would  say 
that  somebody  has  been  keeping  a  secret  record. 
That  person  sat  at  this  desk  making  additional 
notes.  In  a  moment  of  forgetfulness,  or  per- 
haps the  necessity  of  hasty  concealment,  the 
notebook  was  placed  under  this  sheet  and  later 
overlooked.  There  is  a  possibility  that  this 
notebook  was  left  by  the  person  who  preceded 
us  at  this  desk." 

Morgan  took  the  notebook  and  examined  it 
carefully  for  a  few  minutes.  * '  In  my  work, ' '  he 
said,  "I  have  several  times  run  up  against 
ciphers  of  various  kinds.  This  is  unlike  any- 
thing I  ever  saw  before,  and  looks  as  if  it  would 
be  mighty  hard  to  unravel." 

Marsh  again  took  the  book  and  after  care- 
fully examining  it,  said,  "I  don't  pretend  to  be 
a  cipher  expert.  In  fact,  I  never  waste  time  on 
it.  "We  have  men  both  here  and  at  Washington 

165 


THE  SHERIDAN  EOAD  MYSTEEY 

who  can  read  this  sort  of  staff  backward.  Ill 
send  this  book  to  them  and  we'll  soon  get  a  key 
to  the  cipher. " 

At  this  moment,  both  men  became  silent  and 
alert.  Someone  was  slipping  a  key  into  the  lock 
of  the  door.  Marsh  quickly  dropped  the  note- 
book into  the  side  pocket  of  his  coat.  A  moment 
later  the  door  swung  open  and  Gilbert  Hunt 
entered. 

He  stopped  with  a  start  of  surprise,  ]but 
quickly  recovered  himself. 

"You  gentlemen  gave  me  a  shock!"  he 
exclaimed.  "I  didn't  expect  to  find  anyone 
here.  Already  on  the  job,  Mr.  Marsh?"  he 
added. 

"Yes,"  returned  Marsh,  easily.  "I  never 
lose  any  time,  and  this  room  naturally  should  be 
looked  over." 

"And  this  gentleman  with  you?"  questioned 
Hunt. 

"Detective  Sergeant  Morgan — Mr.  Hunt," 
introduced  Marsh.  "Morgan  is  conducting  the 
police  investigation."  Then  he  added,  with  a 
wink  at  Hunt.  "We  met  downstairs  and  I 
thought  we  might  as  well  look  things  over  at  the 
same  time." 

166 


THE  NIGHT  CALL 

'  *  I  see, ' '  said  Hunt,  smiling.  l '  Have  you  dis- 
covered anything  ? ' ' 

"Nothing  to  which  I  can  attach  any  great  im- 
portance at  this  time,"  replied  Marsh. 

"I  thought  I  would  come  up  and  look  things 
over,"  explained  Hunt,  as  he  strolled  over  to 
the  desk  and  ran  his  fingers  through  the  papers. 
The  two  men  watched  him  with  keen  attention. 

'  *  Seems  to  be  nothing  here  outside  of  personal 
correspondence,"  said  Hunt,  turning  around. 

"Yes,"  Morgan  answered,  "those  letters 
appear  to  be  of  a  very  ordinary  character.  As 
far  as  I  can  see,  there  is  nothing  there  that 
would  help  us." 

"I  presume  yon  are  working  along  other  linesi 
also?"  inquired  Hunt. 

"Surely,"  said  Morgan.  "We  have  severaj 
men  on  the  case  now." 

"And  what  have  you  found,  Mr.  Marsh?"  in-^ 
quired  Hunt. 

"Nothing  that  gives  me  a  lead  so  far.  I  will 
report  to  you  as  soon  as  anything  comes  to 
light." 

"Better  come  to  my  home  some  evening," 
Hunt  suggested.  "We  can  talk  in  greater  pri-t 
vacy  than  at  the  office.  You  will  find  my  address 

167 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

in  the  telephone  directory.  By  the  way,  I  be- 
lieve you  neglected  to  give  me  your  address  this 
morning,  and  I  do  not  find  your  name  in  the 
telephone  book." 

1 '  That 's  right, ' '  exclaimed  Marsh.  * '  I  believe 
I  did  neglect  to  do  that."  Marsh  went  over  to 
the  desk,  tore  off  the  corner  of  a  sheet  of  paper, 
and  wrote  down  his  new  address  and  telephone 
number.  "Here  it  is,"  he  said,  handing  the 
paper  to  Hunt.  "My  name  would  not  be  in  the 
telephone  book  as  my  work  necessitates  frequent 
changes  of  address.  One  month  I  am  liable  to 
be  in  California  and  the  next  in  Europe.  For 
the  present,  however,  you  will  be:  able  to  get 
word  to  me  at  the  address  I  have  given  you. 
Naturally,  I  will  seldom  be  there,  but  you  can 
always  leave  word  for  me  to  get  in  touch  with 
you. ' '  Then  Marsh  turned  to  Morgan.  * '  We  'd 
better  be  moving  along,"  he  said. 

"Yes,"  agreed  Morgan,  "  there 's  nothing 
more  to  be  gained  here." 

After  exchanging  a  few  commonplace  words 
with  Hunt,  the  two  detectives  went  out,  leaving 
Hunt  in  the  room.  Downstairs,  in  the  lobby, 
Marsh  said,  "I  strongly  suspect  that  Hunt 
wanted  to  be  left  alone  in  that  room.  That's 

168 


THE  NIGHT  CALL 

why  I  hurried  you  away.  The  sooner  he  gets 
through  up  there,  the  quicker  he  will  leave  the 
hotel.  I  don't  want  him  around  while  I  am 
looking  up  the  rest  of  my  information.  Now, 
you  watch  the  Madison  Street  entrance,  while 
I  stand  across  the  street  on  La  Salle.  When  ho 
leaves,  the  one  that  sees  him  will  let  the  other 
know." 

The  two  men  then  separated  and  took  up  their 
watch. 

Hunt  must  have  made  a  careful  examination 
of  Merton's  rooms,  because  it  was  not  until  a 
half  hour  later  that  Morgan  rejoined  Marsh  and 
informed  him  that  he  had  seen  Hunt  enter  his 
automobile  on  Madison  Street  and  drive  away. 

"Morgan,"  said  Marsh.  "I  want  to  have  a 
talk  with  you  after  I  get  through  here.  Suppose 
I  come  to  your  apartment  tonight  I ' ' 

"Fine!"  agreed  Morgan.  "I  have  some  in- 
formation to  give  you.  I'll  run  up  to  Head- 
quarters now,  make  a  report,  and  go  right  home. 
You  will  find  me  there  whenever  you  are  ready. ' ' 

"And  here  is  a  suggestion,  Morgan.  When 
either  of  us  calls  on  the  other,  the  signal  will  be 
three  knocks  on  the  door  instead  of  pushing  the 
electric  bell.  I  have  a  suspicion  that  answering 

169 


THE  SHEBIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

a  bell  these  days  will  haye  fa  be  conducted  with 
caution." 

1  *  Perhaps  you  are  right, ' '  said  Morgan.  "  I  '11 
remember." 

Morgan  then  walked  on  up  La  Salle  Street, 
while  Marsh  crossed  over  and  entered  the  hotel 
once  more.  There  was  now  only  one  person  who 
might  give  him  a  really  definite  lead — the  night 
telephone  operator — and  he  went  straight  to 
her  switchboard.  Marsh  knew  that  this  young 
woman  was  probably  overfed  with  smooth  talk, 
BO  he  counted  upon  getting  better  results  by 
going  straight  to  the  point. 

"Good  evening, ' ' he  said.  ' ' You  are  the  night 
operator  here,  are  you  not?" 

The  young  woman,  who  was  arranging  things 
before  her  in  a  way  that  indicated  she  had  but 
recently  come  on  duty,  replied  in  the  affirmative. 

"Do  you  remember  Mr.  Merton,  who  has  been 
reported  missing?"  asked  Marsh. 

'  *  I  should  say  I  do, ' '  exclaimed  the  girl.  ' '  An 
awfully  nice  man.  He  appreciated  good  service. 
Every  Saturday  night  he  gave  me  a  box  of 
candy." 

"Read  this,"  said  Marsh,  handing  her  his 
authorization  from  Hunt. 

170 


THE  NIGHT  CALL 

"Oh,  I  hope  you  do  find  out  something,"  said 
the  girl,  as  she  returned  the  paper  to  Marsh. 
"I'd  just  hate  to  think  anything  serious  had 
happened  to  Mr.  Merton." 

*  *  All  right, ' '  answered  Marsh, ' l  then  you  '11  be 
[willing  to  help  me  ? ' ' 

"What  can  I  do  ? ' '  she  inquired. 

"Mr.  Mer ton's  kindness  to  you  made  an  im- 
pression upon  you,  did  it  not?"  Marsh  asked. 

The  girl  nodded. 

"Then  you  would  naturally  recollect  any- 
thing of  an  unusual  nature  which  might  have 
taken  place  during  the  last  few  days,  would  you 
not?" 

"Yes  ...  I  think  so,"  returned  the  girl, 
somewhat  guardedly. 

"A  telephone  call  late  at  night?"  suggested 
Marsh. 

The  girl  was  busy  with  her  switchboard  for  a 
time.  Then  she  leaned  back  and  looked  at 
Marsh.  "See  here,"  she  said,  "I'd  do  most  any- 
thing to  help  find  that  man,  but  I  can't  take  a 
chance  on  losing  my  job." 

Marsh  now  knew  that  he  was  going  to  get 
important  information  if  he  handled  the  matter 
diplomatically. 

171 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

"Remember,"  lie  explained,  confidentially, 
"I  am  not  a  regular  detective.  J  have  nothing 
to  do  with  the  city  police  department.  There 
will  be  no  publicity  attached  to  anything  I  learn. 
I  am  merely  looking  up  confidential  information 
for  Mr.  Hunt,  who,  as  you  know,  has  charge  of 
Mr.  Merton 's  business." 

The  girl  was  again  busy  at  the  switchboard, 
and  when  at  last  there  came  a  pause,  she  looked 
carefully  around  to  see  that  no  one  else  was 
within  ear  shot.  Then  she  leaned  toward 
Marsh. 

"He  got  a  telephone  message  at  twelve  o'clock 
on  Monday  night,"  she  whispered. 

"You  mean  last  Monday? ' '  questioned  Marsh. 
He  recollected  that  Merton  had  been  reported 
missing  for  ten  days. 

The  girl  nodded. 

"Of  course,  at  that  hour,"  suggested  Marsh, 
"you  were  not  very  busy  and  would  therefore 
be  likely  to  listen  in  on  the  wire. ' ' 

"The  very  idea !"  she  exclaimed,  indignantly. 

"Look  here,"  said  Marsh.  "If  I  can  rescue 
Merton  from  the  predicament  he  is  probably  in, 
someone  will  be  handsomely  rewarded.  Is  it  not 
a  safe  bet  that  the  person  who  gives  me  the 

172 


THE  NIGHT  CALL 

correct  information  to  put  me  on  the  right  track, 
will  be  pretty  well  taken  care  of?" 

The  girl  sat  in  thoughtful  silence. 

"And  if  Mr.  Merton  should  happen  to  be  dead, 
Mrs.  Merton  would  be  very  grateful,  indeed,  to 
anyone  who  had  helped  her  learn  the  truth," 
Marsh  added. 

Again  the  girl  looked  cautiously  about.  The 
hint  of  an  ample  reward  was  having  its  effect. 

"If  I  lose  my  job  .  .  .  . "  she  warned,  and 
then  again  leaned  toward  Marsh.  "I  listened 
in,  all  right.  It  was  a  man  who  said  his  name 
was  Nolan.  From  what  I  heard  I  think  he  used 
to  be  a  chauffeur  for  Mr.  Merton.  He  said  he 
was  in  an  awful  hole,  that  he  was  unjustly  ac- 
cused of  theft,  and  that  they  were  about  to  lock 
him  up.  He  asked  Mr.  Merton  if  he  could  do 
anything  to  keep  him  out  of  this  disgrace.  Mr. 
Merton  said  he  would  try  and  asked  where  he 
was.  Nolan  said  he  was  being  detained  in  the 
apartment  of  a  man  named  Ames,  at  some  place 
on  Sheridan  E-oad — I  forget  the  exact  number. ' ' 

"Did  Mr.  Merton  go  there  then,  do  you 
know?" 

' 1 1  couldn  't  tell  you  that.  He  simply  said,  *  All 
right,'  and  hung  up  the  receiver." 

173 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

"You  have  given  me  just  the  information  I 
needed,"  said  Marsh.  "Your  job  is  in  no  dan- 
ger if  you  let  this  matter  rest  just  between  us 
two.  If  anyone  else  should  question  you,  you 
don't  know  anything.  And  above  all,  forget 
about  me.  You  get  the  idea?" 

"You  bet!"  replied  the  girl,  as  she  turned 
again  to  her  switchboard. 

Marsh  left  the  hotel,  well  satisfied  with  his 
progress.  It  was  now  fairly  well  established 
that  Richard  Townsend  Merton  was  the  victim 
of  Clark  Atwood. 


CHAPTER  XV 

"DEAD  MEN  TELL  NX>  TALES" 

UP  TO  this  time  the  case  had  seemed  one 
of  the  most  mysterious  with  which 
Marsh  had  ever  had  to  deal.  Now,  how- 
ever, while  elements  of  mystery  still  remained, 
he  had  certain  definite  clues  upon  which  to  work. 
The  little  notebook  in  his  pocket  might  prove  to 
be  a  key  that  would  unlock  the  final  barrier. 
The  most  important  thing  before  him  now, 
therefore,  was  to  secure  a  solution  to  the  cipher. 
It  was  of  too  important  a  nature  to  trust  to  the 
mails  so  Marsh  decided  to  put  it  directly  into 
official  hands.  He  glanced  at  his  watch.  It 
was  after  six,  and  being  Saturday,  it  was  likely 
that  these  men  had  left  their  offices  in  the 
Federal  Building.  At  the  same  time,  this  was  a 
very  busy  branch  of  the  Government  and  it  was 
just  possible  that  someone  might  be  lingering 
late.  Marsh  decided  to  take  a  chance. 

It  had  been  clearly  impressed  upon  him  by 
this  time  that  he  was  no  longer  free  t<J  rome  and 

175 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

go  unnoticed.  At  this  very  moment  there  might 
be  a  pair  of  eyes  somewhere  in  that  hurrying 
throng  on  La  Salle  Street  ready  to  follow  his 
every  move.  However  much  they  might  suspect 
him,  his  exact  status  in  the  case  was  probably 
still  a  puzzle  to  them.  He  did  not  believe  it  safe 
as  yet  to  betray  his  connection  with  the  Govern- 
ment. The  problem  then  was  to  reach  the 
Federal  Building  without  being  followed. 

Marsh  called  a  taxi,  and  loudly  giving  an  ad- 
dress on  the  South  Side,  was  whirled  away. 
Taking  out  a  bill,  he  laid  it  on  the  seat.  In  a 
couple  of  blocks  the  taxi  was  held  up  for  a 
moment  by  traffic  and  Marsh  stepped  hastily  out 
and  softly  closed  the  door.  He  dashed  up  the 
street,  turned  down  an  alleyway,  and  half  way 
down  the  block  turned  again  through  another 
alley  that  brought  him  to  a  different  street.  In 
these  dark,  deserted  byways  he  could  have  in- 
stantly detected  any  attempt  to  follow  him.  A 
few  minutes  later  he  entered  the  Federal  Build- 
ing, quite  sure  that  any  possible  pursuers  had 
been  thrown  off  the  trail. 

He  found  a  hard  working  official  still  in  his 
office,  and  showing  his  credentials  and  explain- 
ing the  object  of  his  visit,  Marsh  turned  over 
176 


"DEAD  MEN  TELL  NO  TALES" 

the  notebook.  Then  he  slipped  out  of  the 
Federal  Building  and  went  to  a  nearby  restau- 
rant to  get  his  dinner.  After  dinner  he  pro- 
ceeded by  devious  routes  to  keep  his  appoint- 
ment with  Morgan.  Climbing  to  Morgan's 
apartment,  Marsh  gave  three  raps,  the  signal 
agreed  upon. 

T'erney  opened  the  door,  but  after  an  ex- 
change of  greetings,  put  on  his  cap  and  passed 
out  into  the  hall  to  stand  guard. 

"Both  of  us  must  have  important  informa- 
tion," said  Morgan.  "Which  of  us  shall  tell  it 
first?'7 

"Let  me  hear  your  story  first,"  returned 
Marsh. 

"All  right,"  agreed  Morgan.  "Here  goes. 
My  chief  information  lies  in  the  fact  that  we 
now  have  two  men  who  are  undoubtedly  con- 
nected with  Atwood.  Both  of  these  men  are 
known  to  the  police,  and  once  we  get  our  eyes  on 
them  they  will  probably  lead  us  to  the  men  we 
want.  It  is  only  a  question  of  hours,  perhaps, 
because  every  man  on  the  force  now  has  their 
descriptions  and  will  keep  his  eyes  open.  The 
first  of  these  is  Wagner,  the  man  you  saw  in  the 
hotel  lobby.  The  other  is  the  man  who  attacked 

177 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

* 

Miss  Atwood.  With  her  description  in  mind, 
Tierney  and  I  looked  over  the  photographs  at 
Headquarters.  "We  picked  out  a  man  known  as 
'Baldy'  Newman  as  best  answering  the  descrip- 
tion. I  took  a  copy  of  the  photograph  to  Miss 
Atwood  at  her  hotel,  and  while  she  was  not 
sure,  she  said  it  was  enough  like  the  man  she  saw 
to  be  the  same  person.  Now,  this  'Baldy*  New- 
man is  a  well  known  "West  Side  gunman,  and  we 
know  his  usual  hangouts.  He 's  a  little  bit  of  a 
shrimp,  but  an  expert  with  his  gun,  and  there- 
fore a  dangerous  customer  to  handle,  so  Tierney 
and  I  were  mighty  vigilant.  We  found,  how- 
ever, that  for  nearly  two  years  he  has  shown  up 
only  twice  at  his  old  hangouts.  That  time  ties 
np  in  a  significant  way  with  your  story,  Marsh. 
The  last  time  was  early  on  Monday  night,  when 
he  showed  a  roll  of  money  and  boasted  that  he 
was  going  to  pull  off  a  real  job  that  night.  We 
got  this  from  the  bartender,  who  was  mighty 
sore  at  'Baldy.'  It  seems  that  our  friend  had 
slipped  a  five  dollar  bill  off  his  roll  to  pay  for 
drinks  for  the  crowd,  and  the  bartender  still  has 
this  bill  as  a  souvenir.  It  was  a  counterfeit.  Of 
course,  there's  enough  in  all  that  to  positively 
tie  'Baldy'  up  with  our  case,  even  if  Miss  At- 

178 


"DEAD  MEN  TELL  NO  TALES" 

wood  had  not  been  fairly  confident  of  her  iden- 
tification. 

"Now,"  continued  Morgan.  "Here's  some 
stuff  I  brought  for  yon.  Sooner  or  later  I  be- 
lieve you  can  make  use  of  it."  Morgan  handed 
some  photographs  to  Marsh,  which  he  explained 
as  Marsh  looked  them  over. 

"The  first,"  he  said,  "is  a  photograph  of 
'Baldy'  Newman.  He's  a  good  man  for  you  to 
keep  your  eye  out  for,  because  if  he  ever  shot 
first  it  would  be  all  day  with  you.  The  second 
photograph  is  of  ^Wagner.  You  have  already 
seen  him,  but  this  picture  will  fix  him  more  firm- 
ly in  your  mind.  The  next  photograph  is  the  one 
our  man  made  of  Atwood's  letter.  Of  course, 
the  letter  doesn't  tell  us  much,  but  the  hand- 
writing may.  That  last  photograph  is  of  the 
hand  marks  on  the  dining  room  table  in  thei 
Ames  apartment.  Ordinarily,  marks  of  that 
kind  would  tell  very  little.  Our  finger  print  ex- 
pert, however,  called  my  attention  to  the  fact 
that  there  is  a  scar  on  the  right  hand.  Of  course, 
a  scar  in  that  position  might  be  found  on  many 
hands,  but  if  you  look  carefully  at  that  photo- 
graph you  will  see  that  the  scar  forms  a  sort  of 
acute  angle.  It  is,  therefore,  not  an  ordinary 

J79 


THE  SHEEEDAN  EOAD  MYSTERY 

scar.  The  man  whose  hand  we  find  it  on  is 
pretty  snre  to  be  one  of  the  men  who  was  in  the 
Ames  apartment  that  night. 

"High  class  crooks  like  Atwood,  while  they 
work  alone,  are  often  hard  to  get,  but  sooner  or 
later  they  grow  ambitious.  They  want  to  be  the 
brains  of  an  organization.  Then  they  call  in 
second-rate  crooks  like  'Baldy'  and  "Wagner,  to 
do  the  dirty  work.  These  men  are  never  so 
clever,  and  some  day,  through  them,  the  police 
get  their  hands  on  the  man  higher  up.  I  think, 
Marsh,  that  in  this  case  that  is  what  we  are  go- 
ing to  do. ' ' 

"You  have  done  well,  Morgan,"  praised 
Marsh.  "I  believe  on  the  whole  that,  while  I 
have  secured  some  valuable  information,  your 
work  has  really  brought  us  the  nearest  to  the 
man  we  want." 

"That  was  pretty  sharp  of  you  to  tie  up  Mer- 
ton  with  the  case,"  commented  Morgan.  "Of 
course,  when  you  mentioned  it  to  me  I  saw  its 
possibilities.  Before  that  I  was  thrown  off  the 
track  by  the  fact  that  Merton  was  reported 
to  have  been  missing  for  ten  days,  where- 
as this  supposed  crime  occurred  at  two 
o'clock  last  Tuesday  morning.  Why  do  yon 

180 


"DEAD  MEN  TELL  NO  TALES" 

suppose  that  fellow  Hunt  threw  us  off  like 
that?" 

"Probably  he  did  not  do  it  intentionally,"  an- 
swered Marsh.  "Hunt  is  running  the  business 
for  Merton,  and  very  likely  saw  little  of  him 
outside  of  the  office.  It  may  have  been  ten  days 
since  Merton  had  appeared  at  his  office,  although 
only  a  few  days  since  he  was  missing  from  the 
hotel." 

"What  made  you  suspect  it  in  the  first 
place  ? ' '  inquired  Morgan. 

"I'll  tell  you  the  whole  story,"  said  Marsh. 
"Naturally,  I  was  watching  the  papers  for  miss- 
ing people.  When  I  saw  that  announcement  this 
morning,  and  remembered  the  *M'  on  the  cuff 
button,  it  began  to  look  like  a  possibility.  At 
any  rate,  it  was  worth  looking  up.  To  get  at  the 
real  facts,  I  knew  that  I  would  have  to  be  on  the 
inside,  so  I  presented  myself  to  Hunt  this  morn- 
ing as  a  private  investigator  who  was  anxious 
to  get  the  job  of  looking  up  Merton  in  the  inter- 
est of  his  office.  I  think  I  got  closer  to  Hunt  than 
any  policeman  ever  would.  In  fact,  I  was  fur- 
nished with  inside  information  that  may  or  may 
not  be  significant.  This  man  Hunt  holds  a 
power  of  attorney  from  Merton,  and  Merton 's 

181 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

will  names  him  as  sole  executor.  Of  course,  to  a 
criminal  investigator  that  sounds  bad  on  its 
face.  On  the  other  hand,  if  Hunt  possessed  such 
power  with  Merton  there  could  be  no  object  in 
his  wanting  to  get  him  out  of  the  way.  Certain- 
ly, a  man  in  Hunt's  position  would  not  have  had 
dealings  with  a  crook  like  Atwood.  Further- 
more, if  Hunt  did  want  to  make  away  with  Mer- 
lon, he  would  more  likely  do  it  himself  than  take 
the  risk  of  employing  others,  and  so  place  him- 
self in  a  position  to  be  blackmailed  later.  Carry-) 
ing  the  thought  still  further,  would  a  clever  man 
like  Atwood  take  a  chance  of  upsetting  his  own 
plans  by  hiring  himself  out  to  Hunt  as  a  common 
thug! 

"I  am  positive  that  Atwood  either  killed  or 
kidnapped  Merton,  for  I  have  discovered, 
through  the  telephone  girl  at  the  hotel,  that  Mer- 
ton received  a  telephone  call  at  twelve  o'clock 
Monday  night,  summoning  him  out.  That  tele- 
phone call  was  supposed  to  come  from  the  Ames 
apartment.  At  two  o'clock  Tuesday  morning 
the  shot  was  fired  in  that  apartment  and  Merton 
has  not  been  seen  since.  We  know  definitely 
that  Atwood  occupies  the  apartment  across  the 
hall,  but  at  this  time  I  cannot  see  any  possible 

182 


"DEAD  MEN  TELL  NO  TALES" 

connection  between  the  two  men.  Hunt  is  evi- 
dently nervous,  because  it  is  my  opinion  that  he 
used  undue  influence  over  Merton,  and  this  dis- 
appearance has  placed  him  in  a  peculiar  posi- 
tion. I  particularly  called  this  phase  of  the  case 
to  his  attention  this  morning,  and  subtly  sug- 
gested that  my  work  would  be  of  value  to  him  in 
preventing  suspicion  on  the  part  of  the  police. 
That  feature  was  plainly  what  made  him  decide 
to  employ  me,  and  I  am  relying  upon  it  to 
eventually  get  further  valuable  informa- 
tion. 

"The  little  book,  with  notes  in  cipher,  which 
we  discovered  in  Merton 's  room,  is  somewhat  of 
a  puzzle  to  me  just  now.  It  may  contain  informa- 
tion that  will  be  helpful,  or  it  may  prove  just  a 
memoranda  of  business  deals.  We  must  not 
overlook  the  fact  that  a  man  in  Merton 's  line  of 
work,  and  the  men  with  whom  he  did  business, 
have  many  big  plans  which  must  be  kept  secret 
until  they  are  launched.  That  book  may  have 
contained  data  along  such  lines,  and  Merton 
may  have  simply  been  referring  to  it  when  sud- 
denly called  out.  You  will  recall  that  we  found  a 
memorandum  regarding  business  transactions 
covering  the  book. ' ' 

183 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

"But,"  protested  Morgan,  " there  must  have 
been  some  connection  between  Merton  and  At- 
wood or  else  Atwood  would  not  have  taken  such 
a  dangerous  step  against  him.  Even  you  will 
admit  that  Atwood  was  not  an  ordinary  crook. 
Doubtless,  then,  every  step  he  took  was  the"  re- 
sult of  a  definite  plan." 

"Quite  true,"  agreed  Marsh,  "but  there  waa 
never  a  plan  yet  that  didn't  have  possibilities  of 
failure.  You  remember  what  I  have  said  be- 
fore; that  I  believed  that  shot  to  have  been  a 
mistake.  If  the  shot  was  a  mistake,  could  not 
other  mistakes  have  also  crept  in?  Get  Atwood 
and  I  believe  that  many  things  will  be  cleared  up. 

"Now  there  is  one  thing  more,"  went  on 
Marsh.  "I  cannot  tell  you  where  I  got  the  tip, 
and  the  information  is  only  general.  Still  it 
helps.  There  are  at  least  four  men  in  the  gang 
we  seek,  and  their  headquarters  is  in  some  sub- 
urban house  near  Chicago.  The  most  important 
point,  however,  is  this:  they  know  positively 
that  we  are  after  them,  and  have  made  arrange- 
ments to  get  out  at  the  first  opportunity.  That 
means  we  must  work  fast." 

Morgan  was  sitting  in  his  favorite  chair  by 
the  table.  Marsh  was  seated  at  the  front  of  the 

184 


"DEAD  MEN  TELL  NO  TALES" 

room  with  his  back  to  the  window.  At  this  mo- 
ment the  window  glass  above  his  head  cracked, 
a  dull  thud  sounded  on  the  wall  across  the  room, 
and  bits  of  paper  and  plaster  dropped  to  thei 
floor. 

Instantly  Marsh  slipped  down  in  his  chair,  so 
that  his  head  came  below  its  back,  while  Mor- 
gan's hand  shot  out  and  snapped  off  the  electric 
lamp  on  the  table,  throwing  the  room  into  dark-. 
ness.  Aside  from  the  slight  cracking  of  the 
window  glass,  and  the  dull  crash  as  the  missile 
struck  the  plastered  wall,  there  had  been  no 
other  sound. 

Morgan  left  his  chair  and  felt  his  way  through 
the  darkened  room.  Opening  the  hall  door  he 
cautiously  peered  out.  Tierney,  with  his  hands 
in  his  trouser  pockets,  was  leaning  with  his  back 
against  the  wall.  He  glanced  up  quickly  as  the 
door  opened. 

"Everything  all  right,  Tierney?"  inquired 
Morgan. 

"Sure  thing." 

"Haven't  seen  or  heard  anybody?" 

"Nope." 

Morgan  closed  the  door  and  moved  back  into 
the  room. 

185 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 
1 '  '  Dead  men  tell  no  tales ', '  '  said  Marsh,  light- 

ly. 

"Was  it  that,  or  just  a  warning?"  questioned 
Morgan. 

"People  do  not  go  to  all  that  trouble  just  to 
deliver  a  warning,  Morgan.  They  wanted  to  get 
me." 

"Why  you?"  protested  Morgan.  "I  was 
here,  too." 

"They  couldn't  possibly  have  seen  you  where 
you  sat,  Morgan.  On  the  other  hand,  my  head, 
sticking  above  the  back  of  this  chair,  and  show- 
ing against  the  lamp-light,  made  an  excellent 
target." 

Marsh  now  rose  and  examined  the  window. 
"A  nice,  clean  hole,"  he  commented,  "and  not 
more  than  two  inches  above  my  head.  A  mighty 
good  marksman,  with  a  high-powered  rifle, 
evidently." 

* '  Rifle ! ' '  exclaimed  Morgan.  ' '  We  didn  't  hear 
a  sound!" 

"Come  here,"  Marsh  called.  Morgan  joined 
him  at  the  window.  ' '  From  here  you  can  see  the 
grand  stand  in  the  ball  park.  The  upper  tiers 
are  on  a  line  with  this  window." 

"But,"  objected  Morgan,  "that  is  too  far 
186 


"DEAD  MEN  TELL  NO  TALES" 

away  for  any  man  to  get  a  good  sight ;  and  rei- 
member,  we  heard  no  shot. ' ' 

"Don't  forget,"  Marsh  reminded  him,  "that 
we  live  in  scientific  times.  With  a  telescopic 
sight,  and  a  Maxim  Silencer  on  his  rifle,  a  good 
marksman  could  steady  it  on  the  back  of  one  of 
those  seats  and  pick  us  off  at  twice  the  distance 
without  a  sound." 

"It  is  very  discouraging,"  groaned  Morgan. 
"To  think  that  we  may  be  picked  off  before 
we  Ve  even  begun  to  get  near  our  man." 

"On  the  contrary,"  returned  Marsh,  "it  is 
very  encouraging.  When  a  criminal  gets  as  des- 
perate as  that  you  are  not  very  far  away  from 
him." 

Marsh  then  pulled  down  the  shades  and  in- 
structed Morgan  to  light  the  lamp  once  more. 

"Seems  kind  of  dangerous,  under  the  circum- 
stances," remonstrated  Morgan. 

"On  the  contrary,  the  man  who  fired  that  shot 
is  probably  miles  away  by  this  time.  He  is  doubt- 
less laughing  to  think  of  fat  policemen  crawling 
around  over  the  benches  up  there  right  now." 

"They  would  have  been,"  admitted  Morgan, 
"  if  I  had  been  alone.  As  it  was,  I  left  it  to  you  to 
do  what  you  thought  best. " 

187 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

"I  have  a  special  reason,  however,  for  lighting 
the  lamp  and  pulling  down  the  shades,"  ex- 
plained Marsh.  l '  It  is  just  possible  that  another 
member  of  the  gang  is  watching  out  there  for  me 
to  leave.  Pulling  down  the  shades  and  lighting 
np  will  lead  him  to  think  I  am  still  here.  In  the 
meantime,  I  am  about  to  slip  down  your  back 
etairs." 

"Where  are  you  going  to  stay  tonight?"  in- 
quired Morgan. 

"Home,  of  course." 

"I  admire  your  nerve!"  exclaimed  Morgan. 
"Sleeping  up  in  that  place  all  alone,  with  these 
fellows  hot  on  your  trail. " 

Marsh  laughed.  ' '  Seems  to  me  they're  pretty 
close  to  your  house,  too,  Morgan.  Aren't  you 
going  to  sleep  at  home?" 

"Yes,"  said  Morgan,  grinning,  "but  some- 
how or  other  that  big,  half -furnished  place  of 
yours  seems  more  dismal  and  open  to  the  enemy 
than  my  little  home  here  with  a  police  station 
only  a  couple  of  blocks  away." 

:<You  forget  that  I  have  two  policemen  on 
guard  up  there.  They've  not  been  ordered  off 
yet.  If  I  were  to  let  my  imagination  scare  me  to 
death,  Morgan,  I  would  have  been  out  of  the 

188 


"DEAD  MEN  TELL  NO  TALES" 

Government  service  long  ago.  This  experience 
is  no  worse  than  some  of  the  things  I  went 
through  during  the  war. 

"Now,  before  I  go,  there  are  two  matters  I 
should  like  you  and  Tierney  to  look  up  for  me. 
First,  locate  a  man  named  Nolan,  who  was  for- 
merly Mr.  Merton 's  chauffeur.  Find  out  what 
he  has  been  doing  for  the  last  week  or  two ;  par- 
ticularly where  he  was  last  Monday  night.  Nolan 
is  the  man  who  is  supposed  to  have  telephoned 
Merton. 

' '  Then  try  to  get  a  line  on  Gilbert  Hunt ;  how; 
long  he  has  been  with  Merton,  and  things  of  that 
sort.  I  will  look  for  you  at  my  apartment  Mon- 
day evening.  If  anything  important  should 
happen  in  the  meantime,  try  to  get  me  on  the 
telephone.  Now,  I'm  going." 

As  they  passed  through  the  apartment,  Mor- 
gan said,  "I'm  sorry  you  didn't  meet  my 
mother.  She  never  interrupts  conferences,  and 
has  gone  to  bed  by  this  time." 

"There  will  be  many  other  opportunities,  I 
hope,"  returned  Marsh. 

By  this  time  they  had  reached  the  back  door, 
and  after  a  silent  handshake,  Marsh  slipped 
quietly  down  the  rear  stairs,  then  through  the 

189 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

alley  to  Addison  Street,  where  he  boarded  an 
elevated  train  and  went  home. 

He  was  re-assured  by  the  caref  nl  way  in  which 
the  officer  on  duty  in  front  of  his  house  scru- 
tinized him  as  he  passed,  and  went  upstairs  and 
straight  to  bed.  It  had  been  a  busy  day  and 
Marsh  had  many  half -formed  plans  for  the  mor- 
row. 


190 


CHAPTER  XVI 

THE    CLOSED    OOTHSTTBY    HOUSE 

SUNDAY  morning  was  gray  and  dark,  with 
low-hanging  clouds  and  a  frosty  snap  in 
the  air  that  gave  the  city  its  first  touch  of 
real  autumn  weather.    Returning  from  break- 
fast, Marsh  lit  the  gas  logs  in  his  fireplace  and 
sat  down  before  their  cheery  blaze  to  smoke 
and  think. 

Step  by  step  he  analyzed  and  strove  to  connect 
the  developments  of  the  last  few  days.  The  case 
was  strange  in  many  ways.  With  numerous 
clues,  suspicious  circumstances  and  half -identi- 
fied people  on  every  hand,  there  was  no  one 
feature  upon  which  definite  action  could  be 
taken.  Atwood  was  the  most  elusive  criminal  he 
had  ever  pursued.  Never  at  any  time  had  the 
man  become  an  actual  personality.  Like  a  will- 
o'-the-wisp,  he  was  ever  in  sight,  yet  just  beyond 
reach.  While  the  detectives  struggled  along 
tangled  paths  that  led  nowhere,  Atwood  'a  long 
arm  continually  reached  out  to  strike  back. 

191 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

As  lie  thought  along  these  lines,  an  explana- 
tion slowly  took  form  in  Marsh 's  mind.  In  some 
of  its  features  it  seemed  weird  and  unreal.  This, 
perhaps,  was  due  to  the  fact  that  the  few  definite 
pieces  of  information  in  his  possession  had  to  be 
largely  supported  and  connected  by  theories  and 
deductions.  Strange  as  the  explanation  might 
seem,  it  nevertheless  gave  birth  to  a  well-defined 
plan  of  action. 

In  this  way  the  morning  slipped  by  and  Marsh 
was  surprised,  on  looking  at  his  watch,  to  find 
that  it  was  nearly  noon.  He  went  to  his  tele- 
phone, called  the  Monmouth  Hotel,  and  asked  to 
speak  to  Miss  Atwood.  When  the  girl  answered 
the  telephone,  Marsh  inquired  if  she  would  care 
to  have  dinner  with  him.  The  invitation  was 
accepted  with  quite  evident  pleasure  on  the  girl's 
part,  and  Marsh  soon  left  to  keep  his  appoint- 
ment with  her.  On  his  way  to  the  hotel,.  Marsh 
stepped  into  a  cigar  store,  looked  up  Gilbert 
Hunt's  telephone  number,  and  made  an  appoint- 
ment for  the  evening.  Marsh  took  this  precau- 
tion of  telephoning  Hunt  from  a  pay  station 
because  a  telephone  call  is  easily  traced,  and  he 
had  not  yet  decided  to  advise  Hunt  of  his  real 
address. 

192 


THE  CLOSED  COUNTEY  HOUSE 

Jane  Atwood  joined  Marsh  in  the  lobby  of 
the  hotel,  and  the  friendliness  of  her  greet- 
ing made  him  glad  of  his  decision  to  take  her 
on  the  trip  he  had  planned  for  the  after- 
noon. 

They  had  dinner  at  the  Edgewater  Beach 
Hotel.  It  was  the  girl's  first  visit  to  this  show- 
place  of  the  North  Side,  and  Marsh  was  de- 
lighted with  her  animated  interest  in  everything 
about  her.  In  fact,  he  found  it  hard  to  believe 
that  this  girl,  whose  bright  chatter,  sunny  smile 
and  sparkling  eyes  now  held  him  fascinated,  had 
so  recently  been  through  such  trying  experi- 
ences. Marsh  felt  that  it  was  a  natural  reaction 
brought  about  by  this  diversion,  and  he  long 
afterward  remembered  it  as  one  of  the  happiest 
hours  in  a  life  that  had  been  replete  with  pro- 
fessional adventure,  but  barren  in  the  compan- 
ionship of  women  of  her  sort. 

As  they  sat  sipping  their  coffee,  Marsh  said, 
"I  imagine  you  have  seen  very  little  of  Chicago, 
Miss  Atwood  V9 

"Yes,"  she  admitted.  "One  takes  less  inter- 
est in  things  when  sight-seeing  trips  must  be 
made  alone.  You  know,  I  have  not  seemed  to 
make  any  friends  in  Chicago. " 

193 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

"When  I  can  spare  the  time,  I  want  to  take 
you  around  a  little.  I  am  sure  that  you  would 
enjoy  the  art  museum,  for  art  is  akin  to  music ; 
and  from  what  you  have  told  me  I  know  that  you 
are  deeply  interested  in  that." 

"Yes,"  she  replied,  "music  has  always  been 
my  chief  companion.  The  dreams  that  other 
girls  confide  in  chums,  I  have  told  to  my  piano. ' ' 

Marsh  lit  a  cigarette  and  smoked  for  a  mo- 
ment in  silence. 

"How  would  you  like  to  take  a  little  trip  with 
me  out  to  one  of  the  North  Shore  suburbs  this 
afternoon?"  he  inquired. 

"I  should  enjoy  it  very  much,"  she  said. 

"Well,"  Marsh  went  on,  "there  is  a  house  out 
at  Hubbard  Woods  that  I  want  to  look  over  this 
afternoon  for  a  friend.  This  is  just  the  day  for 
a  stroll  along  the  autumn-leafed  roads.  I 
thought  perhaps  you  would  like  to  go  with  me." 

Marsh  aided  her  with  her  wraps  and  they 
walked  across  to  the  elevated  railroad.  At 
Evanston,  a  few  miles  north  of  the  city,  they 
changed  to  the  suburban  electric  line.  The  girl 
took  a  lively  interest  in  the  pretty  suburban 
towns  through  which  they  passed,  and  it  seemed 
to  Marsh  as  if  they  had  but  just  boarded  the 

194 


train  when  the  conductor  called  out  their  station 
and  they  alighted. 

The  place  was  well  named.  A  lonely  little 
station  set  down  in  the  midst  of  thick  woods,  and 
a  road  that  wound  slightly  downhill  and  away 
among  the  trees  were  all  that  met  the  eye.  They 
strolled  down  this  road,  passing  occasional 
homes.  These  were  usually  well  back  from  the 
road  and  almost  concealed  among  the  trees.  In 
fact,  in  some  places  the  house  itself  was  not 
visible,  the  only  indication  of  a  residence  being 
an  ornamental  gateway,  or  sometimes  just  a 
simple  driveway  disappearing  into  the  woods. 
Fallen  leaves  rustled  about  their  feet,  but  much 
of  the  foliage  remained  on  the  trees.  Some  of 
this  was  still  green,  setting  off  the  masses  of 
autumn  colors  that  ranged  from  a  sombre  brown 
to  vivid  reds  and  many  shades  of  yellow. 

"And  a  great  city  only  a  few  miles  away," 
mused  Marsh,  giving  voice  to  both  their 
thoughts. 

"It  is  beautiful,"  admitted  the  girl,  "but  so 
lonely  and  quiet.  Somehow,  one  feels  so  far, 
far  away  from  everything.  Perhaps  the  gloomy 
day  affects  me,  but  it  seems  as  if  the  air  were 
full  of  some  solemn  mystery." 

195 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

At  this  point  Marsh  saw  a  young  couple, 
strolling  on  the  other  side  of  the  road.  He  sur- 
mised that  they  were  local  residents,  and  excus- 
ing himself  to  Miss  Atwood,  crossed  over  and 
inquired  of  the  man  if  he  knew  where  the  Mer- 
ton  estate  was  located. 

"Yes,"  was  the  reply.  "Just  keep  on  south 
along  Sheridan  Road.  It  won't  take  you  five  min- 
utes to  get  there.  The  place  is  on  the  left  hand 
side  of  the  road.  You  can't  miss  it;  a  gateway 
with  gray  stone  posts,  and  there  are  two  big 
pines  inside  the  entrance  to  the  driveway." 

Thanking  him,  Marsh  rejoined  Miss  Atwood. 

"I  wanted  to  find  out  how  to  locate  the  place 
I  was  looking  for,"  he  explained.  "You  will 
pardon  my  leaving  you  alone,  but  it  seemed  un- 
necessary to  make  you  cross  the  street." 

"Oh,  I  didn't  mind,"  she  replied. 

Marsh's  real  reason,  however,  in  thus  leaving 
Miss  Atwood,  was  to  prevent  her  hearing  men- 
tion of  the  name  of  Merton.  Unquestionably, 
the  girl  had  read  of  the  case  in  the  papers,  and 
after  her  own  recent  experiences  might  feel  a 
certain  timidity  in  approaching  the  missing 
broker's  home ;  especially  after  her  recent  men- 
tion of  how  the  surroundings  affected  her. 

196 


THE  .CLOSED  COUNTRY  HOUSE 

A  slight  tarn  in  the  road  brought  them  to  the 
driveway  which  the  young  man  had  described. 
There  was  no  mistaking  the  two  great  pines  that 
stood  like  sentinels  at  either  side,  just  back  of 
the  imposing  stone  gateway.  One  of  these  trees 
was  evidently  dead,  for  .it  was  gaunt  and  bare, 
in  marked  contrast  to  its  companion;  and  as 
they  paused  a  moment  before  the  entrance,  the 
wind  broke  off  a  rotting  branch,  which  fell  at 
their  feet.  The  gates  of  iron  grill  work  were 
standing  open,  and  they  turned  in  and  started 
up  the  driveway,  which  was  covered  with 
crushed  gray  stone.  The  house  was  farther 
from  the  road  than  Marsh  had  expected,  for  it 
was  several  minutes  before  they  reached  it.  As 
he  stood  before  the  great  pile  of  stone  and  wood, 
with  its  drawn  shades  and  general  appearance 
of  desertion,  Marsh  thought  of  the  long,  winding 
road  through  the  woods  behind  them  and  half 
regretted  that  he  had  brought  Miss  Atwood  with 
him.  His  desire  had  been  to  attract  as  little 
attention  as  possible  in  his  inspection  of  the 
house.  One  man  scouting  around  this  lonely 
place  would  have  been  a  suspicious  object.  On 
the  other  hand,  it  had  seemed  to  him  that  a  man 
and  woman,  out  for  an  afternoon  stroll,  might 

197 


SHERIDAN  BOAD  MYSTERY 


exhibit  an  interest  in  a  large  country  house  with- 
out attracting  suspicious  attention.  But  now,  as 
he  stood  there  in  the  gray  autumn  light,  with  the 
wind  sighing  through  the  trees  about  them  and 
a  fine  snow  beginning  to  drift  down,  the  place 
seemed  to  take  on  an  uncanny  atmosphere  that, 
even  though  nothing  worse  could  happen,  would 
have  a  depressing  effect  on  the  girl.  It  was  too 
late  to  back  out,  however.  It  would  be  hard  to 
explain  a  sudden  retreat  to  the  girl,  and  there 
was  no  time  to  be  lost  in  trying  to  get  the  in- 
formation which  he  sought.  Marsh  glanced  at 
his  companion.  She  was  looking  around  with 
evident  interest,  and  he  was  glad  to  note  that  as 
yet  she  exhibited  no  signs  of  nervousness. 

'  '  I  understand  there  is  a  caretaker  here.  Will 
you  come  up  with  me  while  I  ring  the  belli  " 

The  girl  assented,  and  they  climbed  the  wide 
steps  over  which  the  autumn  leaves  were  thickly 
scattered.  Whether  or  not  the  bell  rang,  Marsh 
could  not  tell,  but  certainly  no  sound  came  to 
them.  He  decided  to  knock  and  struck  the  door 
with  the  knuckles  of  his  clenched  hand.  At  the 
first  blow,  the  door  moved  and  swung  inward. 

A  large  hall  stretched  dimly  before  them.  Af 
one  side,  Marsh  saw  a  stairway  and  at  the  other 

198 


THE  CLOSED  COUNTRY  HOUSE 

a  high  curtained  doorway,  which  probably  led 
to  the  drawing  room.  At  the  back  of  the  hall 
seemed  to  be  another  smaller  doorway,  bnt 
Marsh  could  not  be  sure  in  the  dim  light.  He 
was  in  a  quandary.  So  far  as  he  could  see,  the 
house  was  deserted.  Possibly  the  caretaker  was 
spending  his  Sunday  afternoon  with  friends, 
and  the  door  had  been  closed  carelessly  so  that 
the  latch  had  not  caught.  Had  Marsh  been  alone 
he  would  have  welcomed  this  opportunity  to 
carefully  inspect  the  house.  The  girl  now 
blocked  such  an  attempt,  for  it  was  obviously 
unwise,  for  many  reasons,  to  ask  her  to  accom- 
pany him  into  the  house;  and  he  could  not 
consider  the  idea  of  leaving  her  alone,  even 
for  a  few  minutes.  There  was  no  alternative 
but  to  postpone  his  visit  until  the  next 
day. 

Marsh  stepped  through  the  doorway,  pulled! 
the  door  closed,  and  tried  the  knob  to  see  that  the 
door  had  latched  securely.  As  he  turned  away, 
he  glanced  toward  the  shrubbery  that  bordered 
the  adjoining  woods.  Although  he  turned  in- 
stantly to  the  girl,  and  started  to  assist  her  down 
the  steps,  Marsh's  quick  eyes  had  noted  a  man 
crouching  half -concealed  in  the  shrubbery. 

199 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

As  they  retraced  their  steps  down  the  drive- 
way, Marsh  kept  a  firm  grasp  on  the  automatic 
in  his  pocket  while  his  eyes,  without  apparent 
interest,  continually  watched  the  trees  and 
shrubbery  on  either  side.  They  reached  the 
main  road  without  incident  and  turned  north 
toward  the  station.  Not  a  word  had  been  spoken 
as  they  passed  along  the  driveway,  for  Marsh 
had  been  too  intent  upon  keeping  a  keen  watch  to 
think  of  words,  and  the  depressing  atmosphere 
of  the  place  had  evidently  begun  to  affect  Miss 
Atwood.  In  fact,  Marsh  thought  that  she 
seemed  to  brighten  as  soon  as  they  passed 
throught  the  gateway. 

"Are  you  in  the  real  estate  business,  Mr. 
Marsh!"  she  asked. 

"No,"  he  replied.  "What  made  you  think 
that?" 

"You  never  told  me  what  your  business  was, ' ' 
she  answered,  "and  your  coming  out  here  to 
look  at  that  house  today  gave  me  the  idea  that 
you  might  be  interested  in  real  estate." 

"No,"  he  said,  "I  am  not  interested  in 
real  estate."  Then  added,  evasively,  but  not 
quite  untruthfully,  "I  am  planning,  however, 
to  go  into  some  sort  of  business  in  Chicago." 

200 


THE  CLOSED  COUNTEY  HOUSE 

The  fact  was  that  since  meeting  this  girlr 
Marsh  had  begun  to  take  an  entirely  different 
view  of  life.  He  looked  back  upon  his  wander- 
ings and  realized  the  emptiness  of  the  passing 
years.  It  seemed  to  him  now  that  a  man  could 
ask  for  nothing  more  than  to  settle  down  to 
some  regular  employment  in  such  a  wonderful 
city,  and  go  home  every  night  to  find  this  girl 
waiting  for  him. 

Marsh  stepped  off  the  motor  bus  at  Oak  Street 
to  keep  his  appointment  with  Hunt.  He  reflected 
that  he  had  never  seen  a  street  so  representative 
of  Chicago  and  its  rapid  growth.  At  his  back 
was  the  great  new  Drake  Hotel  and  the  whole 
neighborhood  was  one  of  wealth  and  fashion. 
Yet,  as  he  passed  along  the  street,  he  noticed 
tiny  frame  or  brick  dwellings  nestling  shoulder 
to  shoulder  with  obviously  wealthy  homes,  and 
here  and  there  the  dark,  towering  structures 
of  old  and  new  apartment  buildings.  He  found 
Hunt's  apartment  in  one  of  the  new  buildings 
and  paused  for  a  moment  on  the  curb  to  look  it 
over.  Though  handsome  architecturally  and 
modern  in  every  respect,  there  was  a  peculiar 
sombreness  about  the  building,  and  the  two 

201 


THE  SHEBIDAN  EOAD  MYSTERY 

bright  lamps  that  gleamed  at  the  entrance  but 
served  to  exaggerate  the  dim  interior  of  the 
hallway. 

Not  realizing  exactly  why  he  did  so,  but  prob- 
ably responding  to  an  instinct  for  caution, 
Marsh  strolled  back  and  forth  before  entering 
the  building.  He  noted  the  two  dark  and  narrow 
alleyways  on  either  side.  One  of  these,  reached 
through  a  dim,  deep  recess  in  the  front  wall,  was 
evidently  the  tradesmen's  entrance.  Marsh 
then  entered  the  vestibule  and  pushed  the  bell 
under  Hunt's  name.  This  was  immediately 
answered  by  the  clicking  of  the  electric  door 
opener.  Hunt's  man-servant  stood  at  the  apart- 
ment door,  and  after  closing  it  behind  him, 
ushered  Marsh  down  a  short  hall  and  into  the  liv- 
ing room.  Marsh's  quick  eye  took  in  the  luxuri- 
ousness  of  the  furnishings — and  something  more. 
He  surmised  that  Hunt  was  a  bachelor.  Hunt 
advanced  to  meet  him  with  extended  hand. 

"Good  evening,  Mr.  Marsh,"  Hunt  greeted 
him,  affably.  "I  hope  you  bring  me  some  im- 
portant information." 

"I  think  it  will  at  least  be  interesting," 
returned  Marsh,  as  he  handed  his  hat  and  coat 
to  Hunt's  man. 

202 


THE  CLOSED  COUNTRY  HOUSE 

A  log  fire  blazed  in  a  large  open  fireplace. 
Before  this  was  a  deeply  upholstered  davenport, 
plentifully  supplied  with  extra  cushions,  and  at 
either  side  of  the  fireplace  were  large  lounging 
chairs.  Hunt  called  Marsh's  attention  to  these 
and  told  him  to  make  himself  comfortable.  As 
Hunt  seated  himself  on  the  davenport,  Marsh 
'decided  to  take  one  of  the  chairs  near  the  fire. 
This  gave  him  the  advantage  of  having  the  fire- 
light on  Hunt's  face  while  his  own  was  more  or 
less  in  the  shadow,  for  the  heavily  shaded  lamps 
about  the  room  furnished  only  a  soft  glow  that 
made  details  indistinct. 

Hunt  clasped  his  hands  and  leaning  forward 
rested  his  elbows  on  his  knees.  * l  Tell  me  what  you 
found  in  Merton's  rooms  yesterday,"  he  said. 

"I  found  absolutely  nothing  of  importance," 
replied  Marsh.  It  might  be  splitting  hairs,  he 
thought,  but  it  was  Morgan  who  had  actually 
'discovered  the  notebook.  "I  looked  carefully 
through  his  dresser,"  he  went  on,  "and  also 
examined  all  the  papers  in  the  desk." 

"And  you  found  nothing  of  importance,  Mr. 
Marsh?" 

"Nothing,"  replied  Marsh,  putting  as  strong 
a  note  of  positiveness  into  his  voice  afl  possible, 

203 


THE  SHERIDAN  EOAD  MYSTERY 

for  he  now  began  to  supect  to  whom  the  notebook 
had  belonged.  "The  desk  contained  only  per- 
sonal and  a  little  business  correspondence. 
Morgan  and  I  examined  all  the  signatures.  If 
you  looked  that  correspondence  over,  as  I 
presume  you  did,  you  will  acknowledge  that  no 
suspicion  could  be  directed  at  the  men  whose 
names  appeared  there." 

Hunt  nodded  in  an  absent-minded  way  and 
again  asked,  "Perhaps  this  man  Morgan  found 
something?" 

"I  would  have  known  if  he  had,"  said  Marsh, 
again  evasively.  ( '  I  entered  the  room  with  him, 
and  as  you  know,  we  left  together." 

Hunt  now  seemed  satified  that  Marsh  had  no 
special  information  to  give  him  about  the  con- 
tents of  Merton's  rooms.  "Well,  tell  me  just 
what  you  have  discovered,"  he  said,  settling 
back  into  a  corner  of  the  davenport. 

"For  one  thing,"  Marsh  began,  "I  know  that 
Mr.  Merton  is  dead." 

He  leisurely  took  out  his  cigarette  case,  care- 
fully selected  a  cigarette,  and  touch  a  match  to 
it.  It  was  evident  that  this  act  on  Marsh's  part 
was  intended  to  give  Hunt  time  in  which  to  think 
and  pass  some  comment  if  he  cared  to.  The  man 
remained  silent. 

204 


THE  CLOSED  COUNTRY  HOUSE 

"All  right,  my  friend,"  thought  Marsh. 
"We'll  tell  you  a  little  more;  just  enough  to 
make  you  think — and  perhaps  act."  Then  he 
continued  aloud,  "I  work  along  somewhat 
different  lines  than  those  followed  by  the  police. 
For  example,  I  frequently  get  better  results  by 
sitting  down  quietly  in  my  room,  laying  certain 
obvious  circumstances  before  me,  and,  through 
what  you  might  call  a  method  of  addition,  derive 
an  answer  to  my  problem. ' ' 

"Quite  interesting,"  murmured  Hunt. 

"And  that  is  the  way  I  have  worked  out  this 
problem. ' ' 

"Tell  me  the  details,"  said  Hunt. 

"While  you  reported  to  the  police  that  Mr. 
Merton  had  been  missing  for  ten  days,  I 
discovered  by  inquiries  at  his  hotel  that  he  was 
in  his  room  as  late  as  last  Monday  night.  In  fact, 
he  was  seen  to  leave  the  hotel  at  midnight." 

"So  I  have  heard,"  Hunt  broke  in  hastily. 
"At  the  time  I  notified  the  police  I  had  not  seen 
Mr.  Merton  at  the  office  for  about  ten  days." 

Marsh  nodded,  and  inquired,  "I  suppose  you 
follow  the  papers  carefully  every  day?" 

"Naturally,"  was  the  reply. 

"Then."  said  Marsh,  "you  probably  read 
205 


THE  SHERIDAN  EOAD  MYSTEET 

about  the  murder  on  Sheridan  Road  last  Tues- 
day morning — the  Sheridan  Road  Mystery,  the 
papers  called  it." 

"Yes,  I  read  about  that  affair." 

"Didn't  it  make  you  think?"  asked  Marsh. 

"I  don't  understand." 

"  I  '11  explain, ' '  said  Marsh.  ' '  Mr.  Merton  left 
his  hotel  at  midnight  Monday.  Two  hours  later 
a  man  was  murdered  in  the  Sheridan  Road  apart- 
ment. Mr.  Merton  has  not  been  seen  since." 

"Well?"  queried  Hunt. 

"I've  just  been  wondering — that's  all,"  an- 
swered Marsh,  throwing  the  remains  of  his 
cigarette  into  the  fire  place.  There  was  a  slight 
pause  as  he  selected  another  from  his  case  and 
lit  it. 

"Mr.  Marsh,"  said  Hunt,  "you're  driving  at 
something.  What  is  it!" 

"Just  this,"  answered  Marsh,  leaning  for- 
ward and  looking  Hunt  in  the  eye.  "You  hold 
a  power  of  attorney  from  Mr.  Merton.  You  are 
to  be  sole  executor  of  his  estate.  Mrs.  Merton 
may  not  return  for  years.  That's  an  easy  war 
to  get  a  business,  Mr.  Hunt." 

Hunt  adjusted  a  couple  of  pillows  and  settled 
back  again.  "Do  I  gather  from  your  remarks, 

206 


THE  CLOSED  COUNTRY  HOUSE 

Mr.   Marsh,   that  you   mean  to   imply   some- 
thing?" 

"No,"  returned  Marsh,  "I  am  just  stating  an 
obvious  situation." 

Hunt  now  leaned  toward  Marsh.  "Have  the 
police  arrived  at  the  same  conclusions!" 

"Have  you  ever  noticed,"  countered  Marsh, 
"that  what  the  police  know  usually  appears  in 
the  papers?" 

"You  mean  by  that  that  the  police  have  not 
formed  the  same  connection  which  you  have?" 

"I  inferred  as  much,"  returned  Marsh. 

"Are  you  thinking  of  bringing  your  theories 
to  their  attention?"  asked  Hunt,  as  he  again  set- 
tled himself  back  against  the  cushions. 

"That  depends." 

"On  what?"  inquired  Hunt. 

"Yourself." 

Hunt  remained  silent  for  a  moment,  then  said, 
"Do  I  understand  that  you  are  making  me  a 
proposition?" 

"I'm  not  laying  myself  open  to  a  charge  of 
blackmail,  Mr.  Hunt." 

"No,"  jeered  Hunt,  "I  see  you're  a  clever 
rogue.  I  might  have  guessed  as  much  when  you 
offered  to  investigate  this  matter  for  me." 

207 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

"A  man  must  make  a  living,"  returned 
Marsh. 

"This  is  a  cheap  way  to  do  it." 

"I  haven't  had  your  opportunities,"  snapped 
Marsh. 

"Damn  you!"  cried  Hunt,  leaping  to  his  feet 
and  shaking  his  fist  in  Marsh 's  face.  "  I  '11  hand 
you  over  to  the  police." 

"And  lose  a  good  lieutenant,  Mr.  Hunt?" 

"You're  a  dirty  blackguard,  Marsh," 
stormed  Hunt.  "You've  worked  your  way  into 
my  confidence  and  now  attempt  to  use  your 
knowledge  to  hold  me  up.  I  admit  that  you've 
got  me  by  the  throat.  A  man  placed  in  the 
position  which  you  have  made  only  too  clear 
to  me  has  only  one  way  out.  Of  course,  I 
could  clear  myself,  but  the  stigma  and  sus- 
picion would  remain.  All  right,  what's  your 
price?" 

Marsh  stared  in  puzzled  silence  for  a  mo- 
ment, as  Hunt  glared  down  at  him.  In  some 
ways  the  outcome  of  the  conversation  was  not 
exactly  what  he  had  expected. 

"Mr.  Hunt,"  he  said,  rising,  "I'm  in  this; 
thing  for  bigger  game  than  a  few  hundred  dol- 
lars." 

208 


THE  CLOSED  COUNTEY  HOUSE 

"I  told  you  to  name  your  price,"  replied 
Hunt. 

"As  I  told  you  before,"  returned  Marsh, 
"I'm  not  laying  myself  open  to  a  charge  of 
blackmail.  You  think  the  matter  over  for  a  day 
or  two;  and  in  the  meantime  I'll  take  my  coat 
and  hat." 

Hunt  hesitated  for  a  moment,  then  struck  a 
bell  which  stood  on  a  small  table  by  the  daven- 
port. A  moment  later  his  man  appeared  with 
Marsh's  coat  and  hat  and  assisted  him  to  put 
on  his  coat. 

"Good  night,  Mr.  Hunt,"  said  Marsh,  smil- 
ing, and  holding  out  his  hand. 

"Good  night,"  said  Hunt,  shortly,  turning 
away  and  ignoring  the  preferred  hand. 

The  servant  opened  the  door  and  Marsh 
passed  out.  He  hurried  over  to  Bush  Street  and 
into  the  telephone  booth  in  a  nearby  drug  store. 
He  talked  for  a  few  minutes  over  the  telephone 
and  then  took  a  street  car  for  home. 

A  half  hour  later  an  observant  person  might 
have  noticed  a  man  lingering  in  the  shadows  of 
Oak  Street. 


209 


CHAPTER  XVTI 

WHAT   THE    CABETAKEB    SAW 

EARLY  Monday  morning  Marsh  started 
for  Hubbard  Woods,  to  carry  out  his  in- 
vestigations regarding  the  Merton  house. 
These  investigations  must  be  conducted  along 
different  lines  from  those  he  had  contemplated 
on  Sunday,  for  his  last  interview  with  Hunt  had 
considerably  changed  his  position  in  the  matter. 
Hunt  now  regarded  him  with  suspicion,  and  it 
might  be  considered  probable  that  he  had  even 
gone  so  far  as  to  warn  the  caretaker  he  had  said 
was  in  charge,  against  admitting  Marsh. 

Marsh  intended  to  have  another  look  at  the 
place,  but  only  a  surreptitious  one  from  the 
cover  of  the  woods.  His  chief  object  now  was 
to  discover  if  neighbors  knew  anything  about 
the  place.  As  he  came  down  the  road  he  recog- 
nized the  turn,  which  the  day  before  had  brought 
him  directly  in  front  of  the  gate,  so  he  stepped 
to  the  side  of  the  road,  and  approached  the  turn 

210 


with  caution,  for  lie  did  not  want  anyone  who 
might  be  coming  from  the  house  to  find  him  near 
it  at  this  time. 

As  Marsh  walked  slowly  around  the  bend  in 
the  road  he  saw  the  rear  of  a  closed  car  just  dis- 
appearing between  the  gateposts.  Only  the 
guarded  way  in  which  he  had  approached  had 
prevented  the  occupants  of  the  car  from  seeing 
him.  Marsh  hurried  to  the  shelter  of  one  of  the 
big  stone  gateposts  and  peered  around  it  in 
time  to  note  that  the  car  was  a  large,  black  one 
of  the  limousine  type.  The  next  minute  it  was 
lost  to  view  around  a  curve  in  the  driveway,  and 
Marsh  paused  for  a  moment  to  reflect.  This 
might  be  Hunt's  car  bringing  Tn'm  up  for  one  of 
the  visits  which  he  had  said  he  was  accustomed 
to  make.  On  the  other  hand,  it  seemed  too  early 
an  hour  for  a  man  of  Hunt's  habits.  Moreover, 
Marsh  had  reason  to  believe  that  Hunt's  car 
would  be  followed;  and  certainly  there  was  no 
one  else  in  sight  now.  Marsh  decided  that  the 
matter  was  worth  investigating,  and  turned  into 
the  concealing  shadow  of  the  woods.  He  made; 
his  way  with  difficulty  through  the  tangled  un-< 
derbrush,  in  what  he  believed  to  be  the  general 
direction  of  the  house.  His  guess  was  correct, 

211 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

for  the  house  was  before  him  when  he  emerged, 
a  few  minutes  later,  from  the  woods.  He  was 
protected  from  the  sight  of  anyone  in  the  house 
by  a  screen  of  heavy  shrubbery,  which  divided 
the  lawn  from  the  woods. 

He  found  that  in  his  unguided  advance 
through  the  woods,  he  had  approached  the  house 
to  the  south,  so  that  he  saw  not  only  the  house 
itself,  but  also  had  a  good  view  of  the  garage  at 
the  back.  The  car  had  evidently  just  been  run 
into  the  garage,  for  a  man  was  closing  the  doors, 
while  another  stood  nearby.  A  moment  later, 
the  two  men  approached  the  house  and  passed 
out  of  sight.  Marsh  presumed  that  they  had 
used  the  back  door,  which  was  out  of  his  line 
of  vision.  While  the  distance  was  too  great  for 
him  to  see  the  men's  features  distinctly,  he 
knew  that  neither  of  them  was  Hunt,  for  he  was 
now  sufficiently  familiar  with  Hunt's  figure  to 
have  easily  recognized  it. 

To  have  seen  one  man  or  woman  around  the 
premises  would  not  have  surprised  Marsh,  as 
he  was  prepared  to  find  a  caretaker  in  charge. 
That  two  men  should  drive  up  in  an  expensive 
automobile,  however,  store  it  in  the  garage,  and 
enter  the  house  as  if  perfectly  at  home,  was  a 

212 


;WHAT  THE  CARETAKER  SAW 

peculiar  incident.  Caretakers  do  not  usually 
have  automobiles;  certainly  not  expensive 
limousines.  If  the  family  had  been  away  for  a 
few  days,  it  would  be  natural  for  the  chauffeur, 
or  some  of  the  servants,  to  use  the  car.  But  this 
house  had  been  closed  for  two  years,  and  Marsh 
was  under  the  impression  that  Merton  had  not 
been  using  a  private  car.  If  he  had  been  using 
a  car  it  was  hardly  likely  that  he  would  have 
let  his  old  chauffeur  go.  The  telephone  conver- 
sation, which  the  girl  at  the  hotel  had  overheard, 
between  Merton  and  the  supposed  Nolan,  indi- 
cated that  Merton  had  more  than  a  casual  re- 
gard for  his  ex-chauffeur,  or  the  man  would  not 
have  appealed  to  him. 

Marsh's  suspicions  being  now  definitely 
aroused,  he  decided  not  to  take  a  chance  by 
showing  himself  in  the  open.  This  might  very 
probably  be  "the  house  in  the  suburbs,"  and  he 
was  not  prepared  to  battle  alone  with  four  or 
more  desperate  men.  Though  he  lingered  for 
some  time  in  his  place  of  concealment,  there 
were  no  further  signs  of  life,  so  Marsh,  decid- 
ing that  he  was  wasting  valuable  time,  crept 
cautiously  into  the  woods  and  worked  his  way 
back  through  the  undergrowth  to  the  raw"?  n>ad. 

213 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

The  next  step  was  to  find  a  close  neighbor. 
Having  twice  approached  the  house  from  the 
north,  Marsh  knew  that  there  was  no  residence 
near  it  on  that  side.  He  turned  south,  there- 
fore, and  after  going  only  a  few  hundred  feet, 
approached  a  gateway  that  was  similar  in  many 
respects  to  that  at  the  entrance  to  the  driveway 
of  the  Merton  home.  It  lacked  the  tall,  dis- 
tinctive pines,  however,  and  a  short  distance  in- 
side the  gate  he  could  see  a  cozy  little  gardener's 
cottage,  or  lodge.  Marsh  was  well  pleased  at 
this  discovery,  for  he  had  hoped  to  locate  some- 
thing of  the  kind.  Servants  are  more  easily 
questioned,  more  talkative,  and  usually  in  the 
possession  of  a  larger  amount  of  neighborhood 
gossip,  than  their  employers.  He  approached 
;the  door  and  knocked. 

"Come  in,"  called  a  feminine  voice,  unques- 
tionably Swedish  in  its  accent. 

Marsh  opened  the  door  and  found  himself  in  a 
room  that  appeared  to  be  kitchen,  sitting  and 
dining  room.  A  small,  round  table  was  set  for 
|two,  and  a  woman  stood  near  the  stove,  pre- 
paring lunch  or  a  midday  dinner.  Marsh  had 
not  realized  how  quickly  the  morning  was 
passing.  The  woman's  occupation  reminded 

214 


WHAT  THE  CARETAKER  SAW 

him  that  he  was  hungry,  and  also  gave  him  a 
sudden  inspiration.  He  would  offer  to  buy  his 
lunch  here,  for  people  always  grow  more 
friendly  and  communicative  over  a  meal. 

"You  want  my  husband?  He  bane  come 
in  a  minute,"  the  woman  said,  when  she  saw 
Marsh. 

"No,"  Marsh  replied,  "I  wasn't  looking  for 
your  husband.  I've  been  walking  around  the 
neighborhood,  and  thought  perhaps  I  could  get 
lunch  here.  I  '11  pay  you  well  for  your  trouble. ' ' 

The  woman  smiled  broadly.  "Dere  bane 
enough  one  more.  Yust  set  down — one,  two 
minute." 

Marsh  laid  his  hat  and  coat  on  an  old- 
fashioned  couch  that  stood  against  the  wall,  and 
was  about  to  sit  down  beside  them,  when  the 
door  opened  again  and  a  stocky  man  entered. 
His  tanned  face  was  expressionless,  and  the 
eyes  looked  dully  at  Marsh.  A  lock  of  light 
brown  hair  drooped  over  his  forehead  from 
under  a  cap,  which  he  wore  well  back  on  his 
head.  The  cap  seemed  to  be  a  fixture,  for  it 
was  not  removed  while  Marsh  remained,  and  the 
detective  had  the  humorous  thought  that  it 
might  also  serve  as  a  nightcap. 

215 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

"Aye  give  dis  yentleman  lunch, "  explained 
the  woman. 

The  man  grunted,  took  off  his  coat,  rolled  up 
his  sleeves  and  sat  down  at  the  table. 

"Not  very  talkative,"  thought  Marsh.  Then 
the  woman  told  him  to  sit  down  at  the  place  she 
had  prepared  for  him.  She  heaped  the  three 
plates  with  a  stew-like  mixture.  Marsh  did  not 
recognize  it,  but  he  liked  the  flavor.  With  this, 
and  the  fresh  home-made  bread,  a  cup  of  strong 
coffee,  and  urged  on  by  a  healthy  appetite,  which 
his  morning  in  the  frosty  country  air  had  made 
keener,  he  enjoyed  his  lunch. 

To  these  people  eating  was  just  a  part  of  the 
day's  work,  and  beyond  the  satisfying  of  a 
natural  appetite,  evidently  produced  no  special 
feeling  of  enjoyment.  Contrary  to  his  expecta- 
tions, therefore,  Marsh  did  not  find  an  oppor- 
tunity to  open  a  conversation.  One  or  two 
remarks  were  greeted  merely  with  grunts,  so  he 
decided  to  wait  until  the  business  of  eating  had 
been  completed.  The  man's  food  disappeared 
rapidly,  including  a  second  helping,  and  Marsh 
was  pleased  to  see  him  at  last  take  out  an  old 
cob  pipe  and  fill  it  with  an  evil-looking, 
strong-smelling  tobacco  from  a  dirty  paper 

216 


WHAT  THE  CAEETAKEE  SAW 

package.  Marsh  lit  a  cigarette,  chiefly  as  a  mat- 
ter of  protection. 

"Have  you  lived  here  long?"  inquired  Marsh, 
addressing  the  man. 

1 1  Tree  year, ' '  answered  the  woman.  The  man 
rolled  his  eyes  in  her  direction. 

"I'm  thinking  of  buying  a  place  around 
here,"  continued  Marsh.  "This  house  next 
door  seems  to  be  a  nice  place." 

He  nodded  his  head  in  the  direction  of  the 
Merton  home. 

The  man  and  his  wife  exchanged  glances. 
She  laughed,  but  the  man's  face  looked  as 
solemn  as  its  expressionless  lines  would  per- 
mit. 

"Et  bane  bad  place,"  he  muttered. 

"Nels — he  bane  crazy!"  snapped  the  woman. 
"Crazy  widt  de  moonshane I" 

"Moonshine!"  repeated  Marsh. 

"Hootch,"  she  explained.    "Ole's  hootch." 

Marsh  laughed,  and  Nels  grinned,  his  features 
for  the  first  time  showing  an  awakened  interest. 

Marsh  thought  quickly.  The  woman  was  evi- 
dently the  "boss,"  but  she  would  not  talk  about 
something  in  which  she  had  no  faith.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  man  undoubtedly  had  some 

217 


THE  SHERIDAN  EOAD  MYSTERY 

knowledge  of  things  which  Marsh  desired  to 
know.    He  decided  to  side  with  the  man. 

"You  don't  approve  of  hootch?"  Marsh  asked 
her. 

"No — no !"  she  exclaimed  vehemently. 

"But  it  makes  a  strong  man  work  harder — • 
keeps  up  his  health.'*  Marsh  glanced  at  Nels, 
who  showed  appreciation  of  this  defense  of 
home-made  strong  drink  by  grinning  at  Marsh. 
The  Secret  Service  man  decided  they  would 
soon  be  friends,  and  quietly  slipping  his  hand 
into  his  pocket,  began  to  detach  a  bill. 

The  woman  snorted  in  protest.  "Et  make 
Nels  see  t'ings.  No  goodt  for  him,"  she  said, 
sharply.  Then  she  rose  and  began  clearing  the 
table.  "While  her  back  was  turned,  Marsh 
quickly  slipped  a  bill  over  to  Nels,  winked  hard 
at  him,  and  nodded  toward  the  door.  Dull  as 
the  man  seemed,  he  apparently  understood 
Marsh's  suggestion.  He  winked  back  and 
grinned,  but  as  the  woman  returned  to  the  table 
his  face  instantly  resumed  its  blank  expression. 

"Well,"  said  Marsh,  rising.  "I  must  be 
going."  He  drew  out  some  bills  and  presented 
one  to  the  woman.  "I  thank  you  for  the  lunch. 
It  was  fine.  You  are  a  good  cook. " 

218 


WHAT  THE  CAEETAKEE  SAW 

When  taking  his  leave,  Marsh  put  special  em- 
phasis on  his  parting  with  Nels.  After  closing 
the  door  behind  him,  however,  he  strolled  in  a 
very  leisurely  way  toward  the  gate,  and  instead 
of  keeping  on  along  the  road  he  leaned  against 
the  outside  of  one  of  the  posts  where  he  was  not 
visible  from  the  cottage.  He  had  not  waited 
long  when  footsteps  sounded  on  the  crushed 
stone  of  the  driveway  and  Nels  appeared. 
Marsh  beckoned  to  him  and  they  walked  down 
the  roadway  until  out  of  sight  of  the  gate. 

"Nels,"  said  Marsh,  stopping  and  facing  the 
Swede,  "you  don't  think  I  ought  to  buy  that 
house  next  door,  eh?" 

Nels  shrugged  his  shoulders.  ' '  Dat  bane  your 
bes'ness,"  he  said. 

"But  I  don't  want  to  buy  a  place  that  has  a 
bad  name.  Will  you  tell  me  what  you  think  is 
the  matter  with  it?" 

Nels  glanced  about  him,  and  standing  a  little 
closer  to  Marsh,  said  in  a  lowered  voice,  "Aye 
tenk  bad  men  live  dere." 

"But,"  protested  Marsh,  "I  thought  the 
house  was  closed,  and  had  only  a  caretaker,  or 
someone  like  that  ? ' ' 

"No  caretaker,"  answered  Neb.  "Tree — 
219 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

folir — five  men.  House  look  close,  but  men  inv 
gide."  Then  he  added,  shaking  his  head, 
* '  Fonny — f  onny. ' ' 

"How  do  you  know  all  this,  Nels  ft" 

"Aye  watch.  Aye  see  you  yesterday,  with 
yong  lady." 

Marsh  smiled.  This  was  evidently  the  man 
he  had  seen  crouching  in  the  bushes,  and  who 
had  caused  him  to  hurry  Miss  Atwood  away 
from  the  house. 

"Yes,"  said  Marsh,  "I  was  going  to  look  over 
the  house,  but  there  seemed  to  be  nobody  home." 

"Men  inside,"  answered  Nels,  giving  Marsh 
a  shock. 

"Tell  me  all  about  it,  Nels,"  said  Marsh,  pat- 
ting the  man  on  the  shoulder,  "and  I'll  give 
you  some  more  money." 

"House  close  two  year.  Since  den  Aye  see 
fonny  men — most  in  night  time.  Big,  black 
car — no  light.  House  stay  close — all  dark — 
fonny — so  Aye  watch." 

"Is  that  all?"  inquired  Marsh. 

"Aye  tell  my  wife — she  say  Aye  drink  too 
much  hootch,"  grinned  Nels.  "So  Aye  don't 
tell  her  about  deh  oder  night." 

".What  night  was  that?" 
220 


WHAT  THE  CAEETAKER  SAW 

"Aye  tenk  las'  Monday  night.  Aye  go  see 
jOle.  He  have  some  new  stuff — goodt — goodt. 
Aye  stay  late — don't  see  well  com'n'  home.  Aye 
tenk  Aye  turn  in  my  own  gate  and  walk — walk — • 
walk — but  no  home.  Aye  hear  auto  com'n' — 
get  out  of  de  road.  Et  pass  me — stop."  Nels 
lowered  his  voice  to  a  whisper.  "Aye  bane  no- 
where near  home — in  front  bad  place.  Men 
turn  on  lights — carry  dead  man  in  house!" 

' '  How  did  you  know  he  was  dead  ? ' '  exclaimed 
Marsh. 

"He  all  loose — so,"  and  Nels  endeavored  to 
illustrate  by  allowing  his  body  to  droop  limply. 

"Then  what?" 

"Car  put  in  gar-rage — all  quiet.  Aye  get 
scared.  Aye  see  clear  now — Aye  run  like 
hell!" 

"That's  all  you  know,  is  it,  Nels?"  asked 
Marsh. 

"All  now — but  Aye  watch." 

"You're  a  good  man,  Nels — real  smart,"  said 
Marsh.  "Here's  some  more  money  for  you. 
Maybe  I'll  come  to  see  you  again." 

"You  bane  fine  man,"  grinned  Nels,  as  he 
pocketed  the  additional  bill. 

"Good-bye,  Nels,"  said  Marsh.  "Better  not 
221 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

tell  anybody  about  onr  talk.    Your  wife  might 
hear  about  it. ' ' 

Nels  winked  knowingly  and  they  parted, 
Marsh  going  directly  to  the  station  of  the  elec- 
tric line  and  returning  to  Chicago. 


As  he  approached  his  apartment,  Marsh  saw 
a  heavily  built  man  lounging  on  the  steps  and 
chatting  with  the  policeman  on  duty.  Marsh 
paid  no  attention  to  this  man,  merely  nodding 
to  the  policeman  as  he  passed,  and  climbed  the 
fctairs  to  his  apartment.  But  after  he  had  un- 
locked the  door  he  stood  in  the  hall  instead  of 
entering.  Presently  the  man  came  up  the  stairs 
and  they  entered  the  apartment  together.  As 
soon  as  the  door  closed  the  man  said,  "IVe  got 
that  dope  for  you."  He  pulled  out  a  long  en- 
velope and  handed  it  to  Marsh. 

"Thanks,"  said  Marsh  as  he  took  the  en- 
velope. "Things  are  shaping  themselves  fine." 

"Anything  I  can  do?"  asked  the  man. 

"Nothing  now,"  answered  Marsh,  "but  yoii 
had  better  have  several  men  where  we  can  reach 
them  in  a  hurry.  How  is  Oak  Street!" 

"No  change,"  was  the  reply.  "Hasn't  left 
222 


WHAT  THE  CARETAKER 


the  house  all  day."   3Yith  that  the  man  opened 
jthe  door  and  left. 

Marsh  opened  the  envelope.  It  contained  the 
black  leather  notebook,  a  letter,  and  some  type- 
iwritten  sheets.  He  sat  down  and  read  the  let- 
ter. 

The  solution  of  the  cipher  code  used  in  the  notebook  sub- 
mitted, was  comparatively  simple  and  we  were  able  to  work  it 
out  here.  This  code  was  evidently  not  intended  for  the  trans- 
mission of  secret  messages;  it  was  very  probably  used  exclu- 
sively to  make  notations  in  this  book  with  the  sole  idea  of 
maintaining  privacy  for  these  memoranda. 

Due  to  the  simplicity  of  the  code,  it  could  be  easily  memor- 
ized and  therefore  used  for  making  hurried  notes  for  quick 
reference. 

To  the  inexpert  person  the  combination  of  letters  and  figures 
gave  a  bewildering  appearance  to  the  notes,  but  it  did  not 
actually  make  the  cipher  any  more  intricate. 

You  can  readily  make  up  your  own  key  to  this  cipher  by 
writing  out  the  letters  of  the  alphabet  from  A  to  Z.  Under 
these  letters  you  again  write  the  letters  of  the  alphabet,  placing 
the  letter  A  under  the  letter  Z  and  working  backward.  By  this 
arrangement,  A  would  stand  for  Z  and  Z  for  A.  Below  this 
you  again  write  out  the  letters  of  the  alphabet,  and  under  these, 
beginning  at  Z  and  working  backward,  write  the  numbers  1  to 
10,  which  brings  you  to  the  letter  Q.  Prom  P  to  J  you  write 
the  figures  20  to  26  and  from  I  to  A  you  write  the  figures  30  to 
38.  The  person  using  this  cipher  probably  memorized  these 
two  arrangements.  In  writing  a  word  of  say  six  letters,  he 
would  use  four  letter*  and  two  figure*.  To  anyone  glancing  at 

223 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

his  notes  in  a  casual  way,  the  system  looked  intricate,  but  to  him 
these  notes  could  be  read  almost  as  easily  as  if  written  in  plain 
English. 

Attached  to  the  letter  were  several  pages  con- 
taining the  decoded  notations  from  the  book. 
After  carefully  reading  these,  Marsh  folded 
the  sheets  and  started  to  place  them  in  his 
pocket.  Then  he  paused,  glancing  about  the 
room  thoughtfully.  A  moment  later  he 
smoothed  the  sheets  out  flat  and  lifting  up  the 
corner  of  the  rug,  slipped  them  under  it  well 
toward  the  center.  Walking  back  and  forth 
over  the  spot  several  times,  he  seemed  satis- 
fied. Then  he  turned  up  one  of  the  chairs, 
placed  the  notebook  inside  of  the  bottom  lining, 
and  putting  on  his  hat  and  coat,  went  out. 


224 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

THE  ENEMY  SHOWS  HIS  HAND 

AFTER  returning  from  supper,  Marsh  sat 
down  to  look  over  the  evening  paper. 
The  Merton  case,  which  had  replaced  the 
Sheridan  Road  mystery  in  editorial  esteem,  was 
now  retired  to  an  inner  page.  He  read  the  usual 
short  notice  that  the  police  expected  to  have 
the  guilty  parties  in  custody  within  the  next 
twenty-four  hours,  accompanied  by  an  an- 
nouncement of  some  of  their  plans  so  that  the 
people  sought  could  have  timely  warning  of 
what  to  expect.  Then  he  turned  to  other  news 
of  the  day  and  the  time  slipped  by. 

About  nine  o'clock  Marsh  raised  his  head  and 
listened.  He  had  distinctly  heard  two  sharp 
reports,  like  pistol  shots.  Motors  continued  to 
hum  past  on  Sheridan  Eoad,  and  he  could  detect 
none  of  the  unusual  sounds  which  accompany  a 
disturbance  of  any  kind.  As  a  result  of  having 
hundreds  of  cars  pass  his  windows  daily  he  was 
used  to  the  crack  of  bursting  motor  tires,  or  the 

225 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

back-fire  in  mufflers.  Marsh's  trained  ear  had 
seemed  to  catch  something  different  in  the  two 
reports,  but  perhaps  it  was  only  imagination. 
He  resumed  his  reading. 

Three  soft  knocks  sounded  on  the  hall  door. 

It  was  the  usual  signal,  and  Morgan  was  ex- 
pected. Marsh  laid  down  the  paper,  and  going 
to  the  door,  threw  it  open.  Instantly  a  small 
figure  leaped  into  the  entrance  hall  and  stood 
facing  him  with  its  back  to  the  living  room  door. 
A  big  army  automatic  held  in  a  long,  thin  hand, 
covered  Marsh  menacingly. 

"Shut  the  door — quick!"  snarled  the  visitor. 

Marsh  towered  above  the  diminutive  figure, 
and  he  thought  with  satisfaction  that  with  his 
bare  hands  he  could  crush  it  like  an  eggshell. 
But  it  has  been  said  that  the  invention  of  the 
pistol  made  all  men  equal.  Certainly  at  this 
moment  the  automatic  in  the  small  man's  steady 
hand  more  than  offset  Marsh's  physical 
superiority.  So,  though  he  smiled  in  contempt, 
he  also  diplomatically  gave  the  door  a  sharp 
push  and  it  slammed  closed. 

"Now,  we'll  go  in  and  have  a  little  talk,"  his 
visitor  informed  Marsh,  and  slowly  backed  into 
the  living  room. 

226 


THE  ENEMY  SHOWS  HIS  HAND 

Marsh  followed. 

A  hasty  glance  showed  the  man  the  location 
of  the  big  davenport.  Backing  to  this,  he  sat 
down,  looking  smaller  than  ever,  and  motioned 
Marsh  to  a  chair  across  the  room.  "While  Marsh 
seated  himself  the  little  man  turned  down  his 
coat  collar  and  pulled  his  cap  up  from  his  face. 
Marsh  immediately  recognized  "Baldy"  New- 
man. 

"Now,"  said  Newman,  "you  and  me  is  goin* 
to  have  an  important  conference  on  serious  mat- 
ters." 

Marsh  did  not  reply.  He  seemed  quite  at  his 
ease,  and  not  at  all  interested.  Nevertheless, 
both  his  eyes  and  his  brain  were  actively  tak- 
ing stock  of  the  situation;  watching  for  some 
slip  that  might  enable  him  to  change  their  rela- 
tive positions.  Newman  was  leaning  com- 
fortably back  on  the  davenport,  his  legs  crossed 
and  his  feet  a  long  way  from  the  floor.  Marsh 
surmised  that  there  would  be  some  delay  in  get- 
ting the  latter  into  action  again.  The  automa- 
tic, however,  was  still  ready.  Held  firmly  in  one 
hand,  the  weight  of  the  barrel  was  supported  in 
the  palm  of  the  other,  the  back  of  which  rested 
on  Newman's  knee.  Marsh  realized  that  when 

227 


THE  SHERIDAN  BOAD  MYSTEEY 

lie  looked  at  this  gun  he  was  staring  directly 
Into  its  muzzle.  Obviously,  this  was  a  time  for 
watchful  waiting  only. 

""We  can't  figure  where  you  fit  into  this  here 
game, ' '  Newman  began.  * '  You  ain  't  a  bull ;  yon 
don't  work;  and  you  don't  steal." 

Marsh  laughed  at  this  quaint  appraisal  of 
him. 

"Well,  what  are  you  tryin'  to  pull  off?"  ques- 
tioned Newman,  his  bright,  piercing  eyes  study- 
ing Marsh's  face. 

"You  have  me  at  a  disadvantage,"  returned 
Marsh.  "I  do  not  know  what  game  you  refer 
to  in  the  first  place.  In  the  second,  I  cannot 
see  why  the  pursuit  of  my  private  business 
should  interest  you." 

"Come  on — come  on!"  remonstrated  New- 
man. "I  ain't  got  any  time  to  waste  kiddin' 
around  with  you." 

"Get  down  to  the  point  then,"  advise'd 
Marsh. 

"All  right,  I  win,"  said  Newman.  "We  don't 
mind  these  bulls.  They're  bone-heads.  I  can 
run  circles  around  any  one  of  them.  But  you're 
gettin'  too  damned  close,  and  we  want  to  know 
what  you're  after." 

228 


THE  ENEMY  SHOWS  HIS  HAND 

" Thanks  for  the  tip,"  replied  Marsh.  "If 
I  were  really  interested  in  you,  the  information 
you  have  just  given  me  would  be  of  great 
value." 

Newman  eyed  Marsh  suspiciously  for  a  mo- 
ment. 

"Don't  worry,"  he  said.  "You're  not  goin* 
to  bother  us  much.  We've  arranged  to  take 
care  of  you,  if  you  won't  listen  to  reason.  If 
you're  crooked,  just  lay  off  for  awhile,  that's  all, 
and  we'll  see  you  get  what's  right  later.  If 
you  really  are  a  bull,  or  are  helpin'  these  other 
bulls,  then  I'm  warnin'  you  to  back  out  grace- 
fully before  it's  too  late.  I  came  here  with  a 
flag  of  truce  to  give  you  a  chance,  and  you  can 
save  yourself  a  lot  of  trouble  by  bein*  on  the 
square  with  me." 

Bargaining  with  a  known  crook  was  not  to 
Marsh's  taste.  If  they  were  in  the  dark  as  to 
his  intentions  and  his  status,  let  them  remain 
so.  He  guessed  now  that  the  gun  in  Newman's 
hands  would  not  be  used  except  as  a  last  resort 
to  avoid  personal  capture.  The  man's  idea  was 
to  have  his  say,  and  then  go  as  quietly  as  he  had 
come,  if  possible.  Marsh's  tense  watching  re- 
laxed somewhat.  There  was  no  immediate  dan- 
229 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

ger,  and  the  future  could  adjust  itself.  He 
would  like  to  get  this  fellow  now,  but  if  not, 
then  he  would  get  him  later. 

"It  is  none  of  your  business  what  work  I  am 
engaged  in,"  said  Marsh.  "Moreover,  you  can 
tell  your  gang  for  me  to  go  straight  to  hell. 
Now,  take  my  advice  and  get  out  quick  before 
you  lose  the  opportunity." 

Newman's  lips  parted  in  a  vicious  grin. 

"You've  got  nerve,  I'll  say  that  for  you,"  he 
commented.  "But  you  don't  know  what  a  hole 
you're  in.  We've  got  more  than  one  string  to 
our  bow.  If  you  won't  listen  to  one  kind  of 
reason,  perhaps  you'll  listen  to  another.  Now, 
you're  stuck  on  Jane  Atwood." 

Marsh  sprang  to  his  feet  with  an  oath. 

"Leave  that  girl  out  of  this,"  he  cried,  "or 
I'll  beat  you  to  a  pulp !" 

"Steady,  Mister,  steady!"  exclaimed  New- 
man. "You  ain't  bullet  proof.  Handlin'  a  gun 
is  part  of  my  business,  and  you  won't  get  two 
feet  from  that  chair  if  you  make  a  false  move. 
Sit  down  and  listen  to  me." 

Reason  quickly  replaced  the  unthinking  rage 
fc>f  the  moment,  and  Marsh  sat  down  as  the  other 
(directed.  But  his  mind  was  made  up  to  on« 
230 


THE  ENEMY  SHOWS  HIS  HAND 

thing — Newman  would  not  leave  that  room 
except  as  a  prisoner  or  a  dead  man. 

"That's  the  idea,"  said  Newman.  "You're 
helpless  as  a  babe,  and  you  might  as  well 
acknowledge  it.  Now,  listen  to  this.  You're 
crazy  about  Jane  Atwood,  or  all  signs  fail.  In 
fact,  you  probably  hope  to  marry  her.  She 's  a 
classy,  refined  girl,  with  a  big  purpose  in  life. 
What's  more,  she's  got  peculiar  notions  of 
what's  right  and  what's  wrong.  If  she  knew 
her  father  was  a  crook,  and  that  he  died  to 
escape  you,  where  do  you  think  you'd  get  off? 
She  'd  never  have  anything  more  to  do  with  you, 
that  girl  wouldn't.  She'd  devote  her  life  to 
somethin'  or  other  to  make  up  for  her  father's 
slip — that's  what  she'd  do." 

Newman  paused,  and  Marsh  ground  his  teeth 
and  waited. 

"Now,  my  man,"  continued  Newman,  "an- 
other false  move  on  your  part  and  the  facts  will 
be  given  to  that  girl,  with  absolute  convincin* 
proof.  There'll  be  no  way  of  talkin'  her  out  of 
it.  You'll  be  through— that's  all!" 

While    Newman    talked,    he    had    gradually 
leaned  forward,  deeply  absorbed  in  the  driving 
home  of  this  final  threat.     The  muzzle  of  the 
231 


THE  SHEEIDAN  EOAD  MYSTEEY   • 

automatic  had  also  slowly  turned  until  a  bullet 
would  now  strike  several  feet  to  the  right. 
Marsh  had  carefully  watched  for  this  approach- 
ing opportunity  and  now  he  acted. 

Like  a  flash,  he  jumped  to  his  feet,  swinging 
his  right  arm  upward  and  forward  as  if  hurling 
something  at  Newman.  Instinct  was  stronger 
than  training.  The  man's  arms  were  quickly 
raised  to  ward  off  the  expected  missile.  Then, 
realizing  that  Marsh  was  upon  him,  he  en- 
deavored to  escape,  but  the  powerful  hands  had 
already  closed  on  him.  He  was  swung  upward 
into  the  air,  while  bullets  from  the  automatic 
crashed  into  the  walls,  the  ceiling  and  the  floor, 
as  he  tried  to  direct  its  fire  at  his  opponent. 

For  the  matter  of  a  second,  Newman  was 
poised  in  midair.  Then  Marsh,  swept  by  a 
fierce  and  uncontrollable  rage,  dashed  the  help- 
less bundle  across  the  room  and  it  struck  with  a 
smashing  thud. 


232 


CHAPTER  XIX 

KIDNAPPED 

MARSH  slowly  regained  control  of  him- 
self as  he  stood  staring  at  the  crumpled 
figure.  Striding  across  the  room,  he 
bent  over  Newman.  The  man  was  breathing 
heavily,  and  his  eyes  had  a  dazed  glare.  Al- 
though he  was  not  unconscious  in  the  full  sense 
of  the  word,  it  seemed  probable  that  it  would  be 
some  time  before  Newman  could  start  any  more 
trouble.  Marsh  decided,  however,  that  it  would 
be  safer  to  provide  against  future  possibilities, 
so  he  drew  Newman's  hands  together  and  snap- 
ped on  a  pair  of  handcuffs. 

Suddenly  Marsh  realized  that  his  doorbell 
was  ringing  furiously.  This  time  he  took  no 
chances,  and  his  automatic  was  in  his  hand 
ready  for  instant  use  when  he  opened  the  door. 
He  found  Morgan  and  Tierney  in  the  hall. 
233 


THE  SHEBIDAN  EOAD  MYSTERY 

"For  God's  sake,  what's  the  matter!"  cried 
Morgan. 

By  this  time  Marsh  had  recovered  his  calm 
and  easy  manner.  "I  had  a  visitor,"  he  said, 
smiling,  and  slipping  his  automatic  back  into  his 
pocket.  *  *  Come  in. ' ' 

The  two  men  passed  through  to  the  living 
room  and  Marsh  closed  the  door  and  followed. 

"Where  did  he  go?"  asked  Morgan,  as  Marsh 
entered  the  room. 

"There  it  is,"  said  Marsh,  contemptuously, 
nodding  toward  Newman. 

Morgan  and  Tierney  hurried  to  the  man  and 
straightened  him  out  on  his  back.  Newman  was 
still  too  dazed  to  do  more  than  roll  his  eyes  at 
them. 

"  'Baldy'  Newman!"  exclaimed  Morgan, 
looking  up  at  Marsh.  ' '  How  did  you  get  him  ! ' ' 

Marsh  briefly  explained  the  incident.  "And 
what  beats  me,"  he  concluded,  "is  how  he  got 
by  the  policeman  at  the  door." 

"By  a  well-laid  plan,  Marsh.  "We  were  talk- 
ing about  it  to  the  patrolman  when  the  shooting 
began.  That  was  the  first  we  realized  what  the 
scheme  had  been." 

' '  What  was  it  ?  "  inquired  Marsh.  ' '  I  thought 
234 


KIDNAPPED 

I  heard  a  conple  of  shots  sometime  ago,  but  as 
nothing  seemed  to  happen  afterward,  I  con- 
cluded it  was  just  somebody's  tire." 

"You  heard  shots,  all  right,"  returned 
Morgan.  "It  seems  that  an  auto  stopped  on 
Lawrence  Avenue  in  front  of  the  alleyway. 
Someone  in  the  car  fired  two  shots  at  the  police- 
man on  guard  there.  He  immediately  started 
for  the  car,  and  the  man  in  front,  who  had  also 
heard  the  shots,  joined  him.  Naturally  the  car 
was  out  of  sight  before  they  had  run  half  a 
block,  and  so  they  returned  to  their  posts. 
They  didn't  even  get  the  number  of  the  license, 
although  I  suppose  it  would  have  been  of  little 
use  if  they  had.  When  you  look  those  things 
up  you  generally  find  that  the  car  has  been 
stolen  from  some  respectable  citizen. 

"Tierney  and  I  arrived  just  after  the  patrol- 
men got  back  to  the  building,  and  the  man  in 
front  told  us  about  it.  I  was  puzzled  over  just 
what  the  game  was  until  we  heard  the  shooting 
up  here.  Then  I  guessed  that  they  had  only 
drawn  off  the  policemen  so  as  to  let  someone  get 
in,  so  Tierney  and  I  beat  it  up  the  stairs  as  fast 
as  we  could,  When  you  took  so  long  to  answer 
the  door,  we  thought  you  were  gone,  sure." 
235 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

"Well,  the  little  rat  did  have  me  wondering 
for  a  few  minutes,"  admitted  Marsh.  "If  he 
had  really  come  to  kill  me  I  think  he  could  have 
got  me,  all  right.  But  the  fact  was,  he  just  came 
to  warn  me,  and  intended  to  use  his  gun  only  as 
a  last  resort.  Under  such  circumstances,  if  you 
can  only  keep  them  talking  long  enough,  they 
get  careless.  You  can  see  what  happened  to 
'Baldy'  because  he  stayed  too  long." 

"He'll  have  a  long  stay  somewhere  else 
now,"  commented  Tierney,  cheerfully. 

"And  we'll  make  him  talk  some  more  before 
we  get  through  with  him,"  declared  Morgan. 

"There  is  one  thing  I  want  to  ask  of  you, 
Morgan, ' ?  said  Marsh.  ' '  Get  him  out  of  here  as 
quietly  as  you  can,  and  don't  let  the  news  get 
into  the  papers.  We  don't  want  the  people  who 
sent  him  to  know  exactly  what  has  happened. 
Just  let  them  wonder  for  a  day  or  two. ' ' 

"I  get  your  point,"  answered  Morgan.  He 
then  went  to  the  telephone  and  called  the  patrol 
wagon,  impressing  upon  the  man  at  the  other 
end  of  the  wire,  the  need  for  secrecy,  and  in- 
structing him  to  have  the  patrol  drive  up  the 
alley  back  of  the  house. 

"Now,"  said  Morgan,  as  he  turned  from  the 
236 


KIDNAPPED 

telephone,  "I  suppose  you  want  to  hear  about 
the  information  I  was  to  get  for  you." 

"Yes,"  replied  Marsh.  "Were  you  able  to 
get  it?" 

"All  that's  worth  knowing,"  returned  Mor- 
gan. "I  turned  Tierney  loose  on  this  man 
Nolan,  and  looked  up  Hunt  myself.  You  can 
dismiss  Nolan  from  the  case  at  once.  He  has  a 
job  as  chauffeur  with  a  big  business  man  in  Mil- 
waukee, and  hasn't  been  in  Chicago  for  a  month. 
At  one  o'clock  last  Tuesday  morning  he  was 
bringing  this  man  and  his  wife  home  from  an 
affair  at  the  man's  club.  Someone  simply  im- 
personated Nolan. 

"Now,  about  Hunt.  I  found  that  he  started 
to  work  for  Merton  as  his  confidential  secretary 
about  five  years  ago.  Merton  apparently 
thought  a  good  deal  of  him,  and  gradually  put 
more  and  more  of  his  business  into  his  hands. 
About  a  year  ago,  he  made  Hunt  his  'general 
manager,  and  Hunt  has  practically  been  run- 
ning the  entire  business  ever  since.  People  in 
the  financial  district  seem  to  consider  Hunt  a 
fine  fellow.  "What  he  was  doing  before  he  went 
with  Merton  I  have  been  unable  to  find  out  in 
such  a  short  time." 

237 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

"I  cannot  say  that  this  information  helps  us 
out  very  much,"  said  Marsh.  "Your  news 
about  Nolan  simply  confirms  the  idea  I  already 
had — that  the  Nolan  message  was  a  trick.  I 
dug  up  some  information  today  which  looks  like 
the  best  clue  we  have  had  so  far.  I  think  that 
by  tomorrow  afternoon  we'll  close  in  on  the  men 
we  want.  Telephone  me  at  twelve  o'clock  to- 
morrow, Morgan,  and  I  will  tell  you  just  what 
to  do." 

At  this  moment  they  heard  pounding  on 
Marsh's  back  door. 

"I  guess  that's  the  wagon,  Tierney,"  said 
Morgan.  "Let  them  in." 

Tierney  went  back  through  the  flat  and  re- 
turned immediately  with  two  policemen,  who 
gathered  up  "Baldy"  Newman  and  his  gun  and 
carried  them  quietly  out  and  down  the  rear 
stairs. 

"I'd  like  to  tell  the  world,"  said  Morgan, 
"that  the  West  Side's  most  famous  gunman  has 
been  captured  with  a  man's  bare  hands.  But 
we'll  keep  it  quiet  if  you  insist  on  it,  Marsh." 

"After  tomorrow,  Morgan,  you  will  have 
more  than  'Baldy'  Newman  to  your  credit.  Un- 
til then,  our  success  depends  on  secrecy.  Now, 
238 


KIDNAPPED 

remember,  telephone  me  at  twelve  sharp  to- 
morrow. ' ' 

With  that,  the  men  parted  for  the  night  and 
Marsh,  after  making  sure  that  all  his  doors  and 
windows  were  securely  fastened,  went  to  bed. 


But  twelve  o'clock  on  Tuesday  passed  with- 
out Marsh  receiving  his  expected  message,  for 
the  very  good  reason  that  Morgan  and  Tierney 
could  not  get  to  a  telephone. 

These  two  men  spent  the  greater  part  of  the 
morning  in  the  financial  district  in  a  futile  at- 
tempt to  get  further  information  regarding 
Hunt.  About  eleven  o'clock  Morgan  suggested 
that  they  go  to  the  North  Side  and  get  their 
lunch  so  that  after  telephoning  Marsh  they 
would  be  close  at  hand  in  case  he  wanted  them 
quickly.  They  took  the  elevated  to  Wilson 
Avenue,  and  after  leaving  the  train,  turned  east 
toward  Broadway.  At  the  corner  stood  a  big, 
black  limousine.  The  door  was  open  and  the 
chauffeur  turned  to  them  and  said,  "Say 
friends,  will  you  help  me  get  this  guy  out  of 
the  car?  He's  too  drunk  to  move." 

Morgan  saw  that  a  man  was  lying  back  In  a 
239 


THE  SHEEIDAN  BOAD  MYSTERY] 

corner  with  his  eyes  shut,  and  nodding  to  Tier- 
ney,  went  over  to  the  car. 

"I've  been  driving  him  for  two  hours/'  said 
the  chauffeur,  "and  I  don't  think  there's  any 
chance  of  getting  my  money.  I  want  to  throw 
Tn'm  out.  He's  too  heavy  for  me  to  lift.  You 
two  guys  look  husky,  and  like  good  fellows,  so  I 
thought  maybe  you'd  lift  him  out  for  me." 

As  this  sort  of  thing  frequently  came  to  the 
attention  of  the  detectives,  they  did  not  suspect 
anything  out  of  the  ordinary  when  they  climbed 
into  the  car  and  started  to  pull  the  man  out  of 
the  seat.  Suddenly  the  chauffeur  slammed  the 
door  and  sprang  to  the  wheel.  The  man  in  the 
seat,  who  but  a  moment  before  had  apparently 
been  in  a  drunken  stupor,  now  sat  up,  and  draw- 
ing his  right  arm  from  behind  his  back,  covered 
the  two  detectives  with  an  automatic. 

"Sit  down,"  he  commanded,  "an'd  be 
quiet." 

In  the  meantime,  the  car  was  moving  swiftly 
across  Wilson  Avenue.  Turning  north  on  Sheri- 
dan Eoad,  its  speed  increased  to  a  terrific  pace. 
Morgan  noticed  this  and  hoped  that  it  would  at- 
tract the  attention  of  the  motorcycle  police,  but 
they  met  none  of  these  men  and  the  car  soon  left 
240 


KIDNAPPED 

the  city    limits    and    passed    through    Evaix-! 
ston. 

From  here  on,  the  road  was  quiet  and  they 
passed  only  an  occasional  car.  The  man  with 
the  automatic  now  instructed  them  to  hand  over 
their  revolvers.  After  he  had  these  in  his  pos- 
session, he^felt  Morgan  and  Tierney  over  care-] 
fully  to  see  that  they  had  no  other  concealed 
weapon.  Then,  keeping  them  covered  with  the  ] 
automatic,  he  reached  out  and  drew  down  all 
the  shades  in  the  car  so  that  they  sat  in  a  semi- 
darkness  and  were  unable  to  see  where  they 
were  going.  Morgan  judged  that  they  had  been 
riding  about  an  hour  when  the  car  suddenly 
stopped.  The  door  was  opened  and  a  man  stuck 
his  head  in.  The  man  was  Wagner. 

" Turned  the  tables  on  you,  didn't  we?"  he 
jeered.  Then  he  stepped  back  and  they  saw 
that  he  also  held  an  automatic  in  his  hand. 
' 'Come  on,"  he  said,  "step  lively.  You're  wel- 
come to  our  happy  home." 

Tierney  began  to  swear,  but  Morgan  jabbed 
him  with  his  elbow.  It  would  be  like  committing 
suicide  to  show  any  fight  now. 

"These  bulls  ought  to  travel  in  regiments  for 
self -protection,"  taunted  the  man  who  had  been 

241 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

with  them  in  the  car.  But  Morgan  noticed,  aa 
he  stepped  out  of  the  car,  that  the  chauffeur  had 
left  his  seat  and  was  also  standing  ready  with 
an  automatic.  These  men  might  have  their  lit- 
tle joke,  but  they  were  taking  no  chances.  The 
three  men  escorted  Morgan  and  Tierney  up  the 
steps  and  into  the  house.  Wagner  then  directed 
them  to  precede  him  up  the  stairs.  They  passed 
down  a  long  hall  and  into  a  big  room. 

"Make  yourselves  comfortable,"  sneered 
"Wagner.  '  *  And  I  might  as  well  tell  you  that  you 
can  make  all  the  noise  you  want,  because  the 
nearest  house  is  so  far  away  they  couldn't  hear 
a  fog  horn.  Just  try  to  be  nice,  good  little  boys, 
and  maybe  we'll  let  you  go  sometime." 

He  backed  out  of  the  door  and  they  heard  him 
turn  the  key, 


242 


CHAPTER  XX 

THE  FALLEN  PUO1 

THAT  Marsh  escaped  a  similar  fate  later 
in  the  afternoon  was  due  solely  to  his  in- 
dividual way  of  arming  himself.  For 
some  years  Marsh  had  carried  a  small  auto- 
matic pistol,  which  unobtrusively  rested  in  the 
side  pocket  of  his  coat.  When  he  was  outside  in 
weather  that  required  an  overcoat,  the  auto- 
matic was  temporarily  transferred  to  the  over- 
coat pocket.  Marsh  did  this  because  a  gun  was 
seldom  needed  except  in  emergencies.  At  such 
times  a  movement  toward  the  hip  pocket,  where 
men  usually  carry  their  revolvers,  frequently 
gave  the  other  man  an  opportunity  to  act  first. 
Marsh  had  even  carried  his  precautions  in  this 
line  a  little  further,  for  the  automatic  was  al- 
ways placed  in  the  left-hand  pocket.  A  move- 
ment of  the  left  hand  does  not  receive  the  same 
suspicious  attention  from  a  criminal.  In  fact, 
as  he  had  several  times  discovered,  it  was  pos- 

243 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

sible  to  distract  the  attention  by  a  movement 
of  the  right  hand  while  quickly  drawing  the  gun 
with  the  left,  and  at  close  quarters  a  gun  in  the 
left  hand  was  just  as  effective  as  in  the  right. 

When  no  word  had  come  from  Morgan  by  one 
o'clock,  Marsh  decided  to  look  the  detective  up. 
He  called  Morgan's  home  on  the  telephone,  then 
the  detective  bureau,  and  two  nearby  precinct 
stations  that  Morgan  might  have  been  likely 
to  drop  into  while  waiting  to  telephone  him. 
Morgan's  mother  said  he  had  left  early,  and 
the  detective  bureau  informed  Marsh  that  they 
had  not  heard  from  Morgan  again  after  receiv- 
ing a  report  from  him  early  in  the  day.  The 
The  stations  did  not  remember  having  seen  the 
detective  for  a  long  time.  At  each  place  Marsh 
left  his  name,  and  a  message  for  Morgan  to 
ring  up  at  once  if  he  came  in. 

Marsh  was  now  in  a  quandary.  He  remem- 
bered that  he  had  not  asked  Morgan  to  look 
anything  up  that  morning  and  therefore  knew 
of  no  place  where  he  might  endeavor  to  obtain 
a  trace  of  him.  The  case  had  now  reached  a 
point  where  immediate  action  was  necessary, 
yet  he  could  not  act  alone.  Of  course,  he  could 
have  called  upon  the  Secret  Service  Division  at 

244 


THE  FALLEN  PINE 

the  Federal  Building,  but  he  had  special  reasons 
for  wanting  Morgan's  and  Tierney's  assistance 
at  this  time  rather  than  that  of  Secret  Service 
men.  After  long  consideration,  therefore,  he 
came  to  the  conclusion  that  there  was  nothing 
he  could  do  except  stay  by  his  telephone  and 
wait.  It  never  occurred  to  Marsh  that  any- 
thing of  a  serious  nature  could  have  happened 
to  the  detectives  on  the  crowded  city  streets. 
The  only  plausible  explanation  of  the  delay 
might  be  that  Morgan  and  Tierney  had  dis- 
covered some  new  clue  which  they  thought  of 
sufficient  importance  to  follow  up  before  keep- 
ing their  appointment  with  him.  Marsh 
accepted  this  explanation  readily,  because  he 
realized  that  there  were  still  many  loose  ends  to 
the  case  that  would  permit  of  new  developments 
at  any  moment. 

When  four  o'clock  came,  however,  and  there 
was  still  no  word  from  Morgan,  Marsh  decided 
that  something  must  have  happened  to  the  two 
men.  He  had  had  ample  evidence  of  the  des- 
perate and  daring  character  of  their  opponents. 
To  raise  a  hue  and  cry  in  the  Police  Depart- 
ment would  utterly  defeat  his  plans.  What- 
ever he  did  must  be  carried  out  quietly.  So 

245 


THE  SHERIDAN  EOAD  MYSTERY 

far  as  he  knew,  at  this  time,  there  were  only 
two  possible  sources  of  information — one,  the 
house  on  Oak  Street ;  the  other,  the  closed  house 
at  Hubbard  Woods.  First  he  would  get  a  re- 
port from  the  man  on  watch  at  Oak  Street.  If 
nothing  had  occurred  there,  he  would  then  carry 
out  his  proposed  raid  on  the  Hubbard  Woods 
house  with  some  of  his  own  men. 

Having  reached  this  decision  Marsh  put  on 
his  coat  and  hat  and  went  down  to  the  corner  of 
Lawrence  Avenue  to  wait  for  a  bus.  A  stream 
of  motor  cars  swept  steadily  by  and  when  one 
of  these  turned  into  the  curb  and  stopped, 
Marsh  paid  little  attention  to  it.  He  was 
astounded,  therefore,  when  a  man  opened  the 
door,  and  addressing  him,  said,  "Step  in  and  be 
quick  about  it ! "  Marsh  gave  the  man  a  sharp 
glance,  then  noticing  that  one  of  the  man's  arms 
was  extended  toward  him,  he  dropped  his  eyes 
and  saw  that  the  coat  sleeve  was  pulled  down 
over  the  hand,  while  the  barrel  of  an  automatic 
projected  about  an  inch  from  the  sleeve.  Marsh 
looked  about  him  quickly.  The  policeman  in 
front  of  his  house  was  too  far  away  to  be  of 
any  assistance,  if,  in  fact,  his  attention  could  be 
attracted  at  all.  In  the  other  direction,  the 

246 


THE  FALLEN  PINE 

nearest  people  were  two  women,  one  of  whom 
was  pushing  a  baby  carriage.  He  then  saw  that 
another  man  had  descended  from  the  driver's 
seat  and  was  approaching  him.  Marsh  stepped 
back  and  his  right  hand  shot  toward  his  right 
hip  pocket.  Not  that  he  had  any  intention  of 
drawing  a  gun  while  so  carefully  covered  by 
the  other  man,  but  he  had  a  thought. 

1 1  Easy,  easy ! ' '  cried  the  man.  '  *  You  haven  Jt 
a  chance  in  the  world  I  Do  you  want  to  get 
bumped  off  right  now?" 

Marsh  murmured  something  inaudible  and 
withdrew  his  hand.  The  man  with  the  gun  sig- 
naled to  his  companion.  This  man  came  up  and 
felt  around  Marsh's  hip  pockets. 

"Aw,  he's  kiddin',"  the  fellow  exclaimed. 
"He  ain't  got  any  gun  at  all." 

Marsh's  thought  had  been  correct. 

"All  right,"  said  the  man  with  the  gun,  smil- 
ing. "Let's  go." 

It  had  flashed  through  Marsh's  mind  that 
what  was  now  happening  to  him  might  have 
also  happened  to  Morgan  and  Tierney.  If  such 
was  the  case  it  was  more  than  likely  that  these 
men  would  take  him  to  the  same  place,  and  that 
was  just  the  information  he  wanted.  As  for 

247 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

getting  him  into  that  place,  that  was  a  different 
matter.  To  carry  out  his  quickly  formed  plan, 
it  was  necessary  for  Marsh  to  sit  with  his  left 
side  away  from  this  man,  who  would  probably 
join  him  in  the  car,  so  without  further  hesitation 
he  climbed  into  the  car  and  settled  back  in  the 
far  corner  of  the  seat.  The  man  followed  and 
sat  down  at  Marsh's  right,  pulling  the  door  to 
after  him.  The  other  man  climbed  back  to  his 
seat  at  the  wheel  and  started  the  car.  They 
went  down  Sheridan  Road,  and  turning  through 
the  next  street,  made  the  circuit  of  the  block, 
returning  again  to  Sheridan  Road  and  moving 
swiftly  north. 

After  a  time  the  man  turned  to  Marsh,  and 
said,  "If  you  take  things  easy  you'll  get  out  of 
this  with  a  whole  skin,  but  if  you  start  any- 
thing— good  night ! ' ' 

Marsh  smiled  but  said  nothing. 

"Oh,  I  know  you're  a  cool  customer,"  the 
man  appraised,  "but  if  you  think  you're  going 
to  put  anything  over  on  us  this  time,  you've 
made  a  bum  guess." 

"It's  hardly  likely,"  replied  Marsh,  "that  an 
unarmed  man  would  try  any  tricks  while  you 
sit  there  with  that  automatic.  The  fact  is,  how- 

248 


THE  FALLEN  PINE 

ever,  that  you  fellows  are  giving  yourselves  a 
lot  of  trouble  for  nothing." 

"What  do  you  mean?'*  snapped  the  man. 

"I  mean  that  I  have  already  offered  you  my 
services.  All  you  had  to  do  was  to  tip  me  the 
word." 

The  man  looked  at  Marsh  suspiciously  for  a 
moment.  "Do  you  mean  that?"  he  said. 

"I  see  no  reason  why  you  should  doubt  my 
word. ' ' 

"All  right,"  returned  the  man.  "Hand  over 
those  papers  youVe  got  and  I'll  drop  you  out 
at  the  next  street. ' ' 

"What  papers  do  you  mean?"  queried 
Marsh. 

' '  There  you  go — stalling  again.  No  use ;  the 
boss  said  to  bring  you  up,  and  I  guess  he  knows 
best." 

"I  don't  know  where  you  get  that  idea  about 
any  papers,"  said  Marsh.  "I  can  show  you 
quickly  enough  that  the  only  papers  I  have  on 
me  are  of  a  personal  nature  and  of  no  use  to 
anyone  else." 

"Maybe  so — maybe  so.  But  after  we  get  you 
under  lock  and  key,  we  know  damn  well  where 
we  can  find  them." 

249 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

Thus  the  argument  continued  at  intervals  un- 
til they  were  far  up  into  the  North  Shore 
suburbs.  Darkness  had  fallen  and  the  interior 
of  the  car  was  absolutely  black  except  when  they 
passed  an  occasional  street  light  or  an  automo- 
bile. As  Marsh  had  told  Morgan,  if  you  can 
only  make  them  talk  long  enough,  they  grow 
careless.  Passing  under  the  last  street  light, 
Marsh  had  observed  that  the  automatic  was  no 
longer  leveled  in  his  direction. 

The  car  was  of  the  limousine  type,  with  a 
glass  partition  shutting  off  the  driver  so  that 
unless  he  happened  to  look  around  he  would  not 
know  what  was  going  on  within  the  car.  Marsh 
figured  that  now  darkness  had  fallen,  the 
driver's  attention  would  be  directed  entirely  to 
the  road  ahead,  for  street  lights  along  the  subur- 
ban section  of  Sheridan  Road  were  few  and  far 
between. 

"It's  getting  warm  in  here,"  said  Marsh. 
He  raised  his  right  hand  and  pushed  his  hat 
l>ack  on  his  head.  At  the  same  time  his  left  hand 
withdrew  the  automatic  from  his  coat  pocket 
and  the  next  instant  it  was  pressed  into  the 
ribs  of  the  man  beside  him. 

"One  move  and  you're  through!"  breathed 
250 


THE  FALLEN  PINE 

Marsh  in  his  ear.  "Give  me  that  gun!"  His 
right  arm  came  down  with  the  hand  closing  over 
the  man's  automatic.  The  man  started  to 
swear,  but  stopped  suddenly  as  Marsh  warned, 
* '  Shut  up.  This  matter  is  in  my  hands  now,  and 
I  mean  business !"  Marsh  slipped  the  man's 
automatic  into  his  own  pocket,  and  then  brought 
out  a  pair  of  light,  steel  handcuffs  which  he  im- 
mediately snapped  on  his  prisoner's  wrists. 

"When  I  get  ready,"  Marsh  informed  him, 
"I'm  going  to  step  out  of  this  car,  and  I  want 
you  to  sit  perfectly  still  until  I  am  gone.  If 
you  want  to  know  how  good  a  shot  I  am,  just 
make  a  move."  Marsh  settled  back  into  his 
corner  and  the  car  rolled  on. 

At  last,  just  as  they  made  a  sharp  turn,  Marsh 
caught  a  different  sound  from  the  wheels,  and 
he  knew  they  had  passed  into  a  driveway.  With 
a  last  warning  to  the  man,  Marsh  quietly  opened 
the  door  on  his  side  and  stepped  out  of  the  car. 
In  the  distance  he  could  hear  his  late  captor's 
manacled  hands  beating  on  the  glass  of  the  front 
windows  to  attract  the  driver's  attention.  There 
was  no  time  to  lose,  for  they  would  be  after  him 
in  a  minute. 

Marsh  sped  down  the  driveway,  but  before  lie 
251 


THE  SHEEIDAN  KOAD  MYSTEEY 

reached  the  entrance  gate  he  could  hear  the  hum 
of  the  pursuing  car,  and  as  he  sprang  through 
the  gate  the  car  was  only  a  few  yards  away. 
Then  a  most  surprising  thing  happened.  Weak- 
ened by  its  rotting  fibres  and  the  never-ending 
battle  with  the  winds,  the  dead  pine,  which  stood 
beside  the  gate,  swayed  and  cracked.  The  next 
minute  it  fell  crashing  across  the  driveway  in  a 
cloud  of  flying  splinters  and  dust,  effectually 
blocking  pursuit  by  motor. 

Marsh  dashed  across  the  roadway  and  con- 
cealed himself  in  the  underbrush.  The  falling 
pine  had  identified  the  place  to  Marsh  as  quickly 
as  if  the  men  had  told  him  its  name.  He  was 
facing  the  entrance  to  the  house  in  Hubbard 
.Woods. 

The  driver  of  the  pursuing  car  had  switched 
on  the  powerful  headlights  to  aid  him  in  locat- 
ing the  fugitive.  These  lights  warned  him  of 
the  fallen  pine  blocking  the  road.  Marsh  could 
hear  the  grinding  of  the  emergency  brake,  and 
the  hum  of  the  motor  died  away  as  the  man 
" killed"  his  engine  in  his  effort  to  make  a  quick 
stop.  So  swiftly  had  the  car  been  moving,  how- 
ever, that  it  struck  the  log  with  a  tremendous 
impact  which  echoed  through  the  still  woods. 
252 


THE  FALLEN  PINE 

The  front  wheels  scattered  far  and  wide,  and 
the  body  of  the  car  climbed  up  and  rested  on  the 
pine  log. 

The  two  men,  although  probably  well  shaken 
up  by  the  accident,  jumped  hastily  from  the  car 
and  rushed  into  the  roadway.  The  headlights 
were  shining  directly  on  Marsh  and  for  a  mo- 
ment he  thought  the  men  might  discover  him 
among  the  bushes.  Standing  in  the  glare,  how- 
ever, they  were  partially  blinded  and  the 
manacled  man,  realizing  this,  turned  to  the 
other. 

"Shut  off  those  damn  lights.  He'll  take  a 
pot-shot  at  us  before  we  can  see  him." 

The  driver  leaped  back  to  the  car,  shut  off  the 
lights,  and  then  returned  to  his  companion. 

"Not  much  danger,"  he  said.  "The  guy's 
probably  making  a  quick  getaway." 

"Hell!"  the  manacled  man  exclaimed,  "the 
boss '11  skin  us  alive." 

"The  boss  be  damned!"  exclaimed  the  other. 
"This  guy '11  have  the  bulls  on  us  if  we  don't  get 
him,  and  the  boss  won't  be  ready  for  the  get- 
away until  Thursday." 

"We've  got  to  get  him!"  declared  the  mana- 
cled man.  "He  can't  run  all  the  way  to  Chi- 
253 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

cago.  I  figure  he  made  for  either  the  electric 
line  or  the  railroad  station.  You  beat  it  up 
there  quick  and  see  if  you  can  get  him. ' ' 

"All  right,"  agreed  the  driver,  "and  you 
run  down  the  road." 

"Where  do  you  get  that  stuff?"  exclaimed  the 
other,  holding  up  his  manacled  hands.  " I'm  no 
good  with  these  bracelets  on.  It's  all  up  to  you 
now.  You're  wasting  time.  Beat  it!" 

The  driver  started  up  the  road  at  a  run  and 
Marsh  listened  to  the  rapid  beat  of  his  foot- 
falls until  they  disappeared  in  the  distance. 
Then  he  cautiously  crept  out  of  the  bushes  and 
approached  the  other  man.  It  was  so  dark  that 
Marsh  could  barely  make  out  the  man's  form  as 
it  was  outlined  against  the  gray  of  one  of  the 
gateposts.  Consequently,  the  man  did  not  dis- 
cover him  until  Marsh's  hand  was  on  his  arm. 

"That  you,  Wagner?"  he  gasped. 

Marsh  laughed.  "Don't  make  me  talk,"  he 
said.  "I'm  all  out  of  breath  making  that  get- 
away your  friend  spoke  of." 

"Hell!"  the  other  man  groane'd,  expres- 
sively. 

' '  It  sure  is — f  or  you, f '  replied  Marsh.  * '  Now, 
just  lie  down  in  the  road  while  I  tie  your  feet." 
254 


THE  FALLEN  PINE 

The  man  turned  to  run,  probably  hoping  to  es- 
cape in  the  darkness.  Marsh's  hand  still  gripped 
his  arm  and  with  a  quick  movement  of  his  foot, 
Marsh  threw  the  man  down ;  then  unbuckled  the 
belt  around  the  fellow's  waist  and  proceeded  to 
secure  his  feet  with  it.  As  Marsh  rose  to  a 
standing  position  a  voice  close  at  hand,  said, 
*  *  That  '11  be  all  for  you.  Throw  up  your  hands  1 ' ' 

Marsh  did  not  move. 

"I  said,  put  up  your  hands,"  repeated  the 
voice. 

"They  are  up,"  replied  Marsh,  counting  on 
the  darkness. 

"Don't  kid  me!"  The  speaker  suddenly 
flashed  an  electric  pocket  lamp  on  Marsh.  By 
its  gleam  Marsh  saw  the  sparkle  of  a  revolver 
and  wisely  put  his  hands  over  his  head. 

The  man  was  standing  in  front  of  thick  shrub- 
bery. At  this  moment,  Marsh  saw,  by  the  dim 
glow  of  the  pocket  lamp,  two  hands  slip  from 
the  shrubbery  and  close  about  the  man's  throat. 
The  lamp  and  the  revolver  fell  to  the  ground  as 
the  man  instinctively  raised  his  own  hands  to 
break  the  hold.  But  in  the  darkness  Marsh 
heard  his  body  drop  with  a  wheezing  sigh. 

255 


I 

CHAPTER  XXI 

THE  CHIMNEY  THAT  WOULDN  *T  DRAW 

MARSH  stood  for  a  moment  in  puzzled 
thought.      Then   he    heard    a    cheerful 
voice  say,  "  Aye  bane  got  him  all  right," 
and  he  recognized  his  rescuer. 

"Hold  him  for  a  minute,"  ordered  Marsh, 
and  he  leaped  over  the  pine  to  the  car,  return- 
ing immediately  with  one  of  the  robes.  With 
Nels'  assistance  Marsh  wound  the  robe  about 
the  upper  part  of  the  man's  body,  fastening  his 
arms  to  his  side  as  effectively  as  if  he  had  been 
placed  in  a  straightjacket.  Then  he  took  the 
man's  belt  and  secured  his  feet  in  the  same  way 
he  had  tied  up  those  of  the  other  man.  Marsh 
next  took  the  men's  handkerchiefs  and  two  of 
his  own.  Stuffing  one  into  each  man's  mouth, 
and  tying  another  around  his  head,  Marsh  ef- 
fectually gagged  them  into  silence. 

"Now,"  he  said  to  Nels,  "we'll  lay  these 
two  fellows  out  of  sight  in  the  underbrush." 
256 


THE  CHIMNEY  THAT  WOULDN'T  DKAW] 

When,  this  was  accomplished  he  instructed 
Nels  to  follow  him,  and  they  cautiously  ap- 
proached the  house.  As  they  crossed  the  lawn, 
Marsh  heard  rapid  footsteps  ahead,  followed 
by  the  opening  of  the  house  door.  He  im- 
mediately dashed  in  pursuit.  In  the  hall  he 
paused  to  listen  for  sounds  that  would  indicate 
the  direction  the  man  had  taken.  He  heard  the 
clicking  of  a  telephone  receiver  hook  and  a  voice 
calling,  "Hello!  Hello!"  Leaping  through  an 
arched  and  curtained  doorway  at  his  left,  Marsh 
discovered  a  dim  light  in  a  connecting  room, 
and  darted  to  the  doorway,  drawing  his 
automatic  and  transferring  it  to  his  right  hand 
as  he  ran.  He  found  himself  in  the  library  of 
the  house,  and  in  one  corner  he  saw  the  driver 
of  the  car  with  a  telephone  in  his  hands. 

"Drop  that  'phone!"  called  Marsh,  leveling 
his  automatic. 

Ignoring  Marsh's  command,  the  man  hastily 
gave  a  number  to  the  operator.  It  was  quite 
clear  what  was  happening.  This  man,  return- 
ing from  his  fruitless  quest  at  the  station,  had 
witnessed  the  capture  of  his  companions.  He 
was  now  endeavoring  to  warn  some  person; 
probably  the  principal,  who  was  the  man  Marsh 
257 


THE  SHERIDAN  EOAD  MYSTEEY 

particularly  wanted.  There  was  no  time  for 
argument,  so  Marsh  fired. 

The  man  dropped  the  telephone  and  stumbled 
forward  in  a  heap  on  the  floor.  Marsh  dashed 
across  the  room  and  replaced  the  receiver  on 
its  hook,  hoping  that  the  connection  had  not 
been  made  in  time  for  the  man  at  the  other  end 
of  the  wire  to  hear  the  shot.  Though  the  man 
had  fallen,  Marsh  knew  that  he  had  nothing 
worse  than  a  flesh  wound  in  the  arm,  because  he 
was  sure  of  his  aim.  He  tied  the  man's  hands 
with  a  handkerchief,  and  his  feet  with  his  belt, 
and  left  him  on  the  floor.  Turning  quickly  to 
Nels,  who  had  followed  him  into  the  room,  and 
now  stood  watching,  he  handed  the  Swede  the 
captured  automatic,  saying,  "Do  you  know  how; 
to  use  it?" 

"Ya,  Aye  know,"  was  the  smiling  reply. 

"All  right,"  said  Marsh.  "I'm  going  to 
search  the  house.  Follow  me  and  keep  your 
eyes  open."  Marsh  hurried  back  through  the 
front  room  to  the  hall,  with  the  Swede  at  his 
heels,  and  he  heard  the  man  murmuring,  as  he 
went,  "You  bane  fine  man." 

As  they  climbed  the  stairs,  feeling  their  way 
in  the  dark,  they  heard  a  distant  hammering. 
258 


It  came  from  the  back  of  the  house,  and  Marsh 
and  Nels  speeded  down  the  hall.  The  hammer- 
ing ceased  as  they  approached  the  door  at  the 
end  of  the  hall.  A  thin  strip  of  light  showed 
beneath  it  and  Marsh  heard  familiar  voices. 

"I  tell  you  somebody's  come  after  us,"  said 
one. 

1 1  Oh,  hell !  The  man  said  nobody  could  hear 
a  foghorn  here,"  replied  the  other.  "What's 
the  use?" 

Marsh  found  the  key  in  the  lock,  and  turning 
it,  threw  the  door  open.  There  stood  Morgan 
and  Tierney  in  the  wreckage  of  what  had  once 
manifestly  been  a  beautifully  furnished  bed- 
room. A  black  opening,  through  which  a  strong 
draft  came  when  the  door  was  opened,  showed 
where  once  had  been  a  shuttered  window.  The 
remains  of  chairs  littered  the  floor,  parts  of  the 
bed  were  scattered  around  the  room,  and  in  the 
center  of  the  floor  was  a  pile  of  felt  that  had 
once  been  the  stuffing  for  the  mattress. 

"My  God!"  cried  Marsh,  "what  has  hap- 
pened?" 

The  two  men's  faces  lighted  up  at  sight  of 
him,  and  Tierney  shouted,  "What  did  I  tell 
you,  Morgan  T  I  knew  that  guy  would  find  us. ' ' 
259 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

"He  bane  fine  man,"  added  a  voice  from  the 
doorway. 

' '  Hello  Svenska ! ' '  bellowed  Tierney.  « '  Who 
are  you?" 

Nels  grinned  as  Marsh  explained  who  he 
was. 

"How  did  you  get  in?  Where's  the  gang?" 
rapidly  questioned  Morgan. 

"One  wounded  and  tied  downstairs,  and  two 
safely  tied  up  by  the  gate,"  explained  Marsh. 
"One  of  the  two  out  there  is  your  man  Wagner. 
Now  tell  me  how  you  got  here. '  ' 

Morgan  gave  him  a  brief  outline  of  their  ad- 
ventures. 

"But  how  did  the  room  get  in  this  state?" 
questioned  Marsh. 

"Well,  you  know  Tierney,"  replied  Morgan, 
with  a  laugh.  "He's  a  mighty  restless  individ- 
ual when  you  try  to  shut  him  up.  He  de- 
molished all  the  chairs  on  the  door.  We  found 
the  window  frame  and  the  shutters  had  been 
screwed  tight  to  keep  us  in,  so  Tierney  took  the 
bed  apart  and  used  the  sides  to  clean  out  the 
whole  business.  When  we  discovered  it  was  too 
far  to  drop  from  the  window,  we  tried  to  make 
a  rope  with  the  ticking  of  the  mattress,  but 
260 


THE  CHIMNEY  THAT  WOULDN'T  DRAW, 

when  we  tested  it,  the  stuff  proved  to  be  too 
rotten  to  hold  us. 

"And  the  worst  of  it  is,"  added  Morgan,  "it 
was  cold  enough  in  here  before  Tierney  broke 
out  the  window.  Since  then  we've  been  freez- 
ing. If  there 's  a  fire  in  the  house,  lead  us  to  it. ' ' 

"I  don't  think  there  is,"  replied  Marsh. 
"Now  that  you  speak  of  it,  I  noticed  a  damp 
chill  in  the  place  the  minute  I  came  in.  Nels," 
he  added,  turning  to  the  Swede,  "you're  a  good 
fellow.  I  saw  a  big,  open  fireplace  in  the  li- 
brary. Build  a  wood  fire  there  and  we'll  warm 
my  friends  up." 

Nels  nodded  and  started  off. 

"We  haven't  any  time  to  lose,"  announced 
Marsh,  turning  back  to  Morgan.  "I  expect  to 
find  my  final  evidence  in  this  house,  and  we've 
got  to  get  back  to  town  pretty  soon.  You  fel- 
lows can  warm  up  a  bit  and  then  we'll  start  a 
systematic  search  from  the  garret  to  the  cel- 
lar." 

All  three  then  went  down  to  the  library  where 
Nels  was  building  the  fire.  Tierney  loudly 
voiced  his  approval  as  the  red  and  yellow  flames 
began  to  creep  over  the  wood.  A  minute  later, 
however,  he  was  choking  and  swearing  as  the 

261 


THE  SHERIDAN  BOAD  MTSTEKY 

acrid  wood  smoke  rolled  out  into  the  room  in- 
stead of  up  the  chimney. 

"Aye  fix  him,"  explained  Nels.  "Chimney 
cover  to  keep  out  draft,  mebbe."  He  hurried 
out  of  the  room. 

A  few  minutes  later  he  returned  with  a  white 
face  and  staring  eyes. 

"You  come,"  he  half -whispered,  from  the 
doorway.  "Aye  see  somet'ing." 

"What  is  it?"  questioned  Marsh. 

"Aye  don't  know — Aye  only  tenk — come 
quick ! ' ' 

"Go  ahead,"  said  Marsh,  "we'll  follow,"  and 
with  Nels  leading  the  way  they  all  climbed  the 
stairs.  Nels  had  turned  on  the  electric  lights  in 
the  halls.  They  could  now  see  their  way  clearly 
as  he  guided  them  to  the  attic  and  across  it  to 
an  open  window  which  opened  on  a  wide  gut- 
ter. They  crawled  out  after  him  and  worked 
their  way  along  a  short  distance  to  the  big,  old 
fashioned,  outside  stone  chimney  from  the 
library  fireplace. 

;<Yust  put  your  hand  in — so,"  directed  Nels, 
making  a  motion  with  his  arm. 

Marsh  reached  up  and  followed  the  sug- 
gestion. Just  below  the  top  of  the  chimney 

262 


THE  CHIMNEY  THAT  WOULDN'T  DRAW 

his  fingers  came  into  contact  with  a  human 
head. 

' '  My  God ! ' '  he  cried.    ' '  Here 's  our  man. ' ' 

"Holy  Saints!"  gasped  Tierney. 

Then  Morgan  asked,  "What  do  you  mean?" 

"I  think  we've  found  Merton's  body,"  re- 
plied Marsh.  "You'll  have  to  help  me  get  him 
out." 

With  considerable  effort,  and  hindered  by  the 
blackness  of  the  night,  Marsh  and  Morgan 
climbed  the  slanting,  slate-covered  roof  and 
perched  themselves  on  the  broad  capstone  of  the 
chimney.  Slowly  they  loosened  the  wedged  in 
body,  gradually  drew  it  out  through  the  top  of 
the  chimney,  and  passed  it  down  to  Tierney 
and  Nels,  who  crept  with  it  along  the  gutter  and 
passed  it  through  the  attic  window.  Marsh  and 
Morgan  followed  them,  and  under  the  glow  of 
the  one  dim  electric  light,  the  two  men  made  a 
hasty  examination  of  the  body.  It  was  in  a  fair 
state  of  preservation,  due  probably  to  the  cold 
air,  which  had  been  made  especially  effective 
by  the  draft  through  the  chimney.  The  iden- 
tification was  made  certain  when  Marsh  ex- 
tracted a  card  case  from  the  man's  coat,  in 
which  they  found  the  business  and  personal 

263 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

cards  of  Richard  Townsend  Merton,  and  Mor- 
gan located  the  duplicate  of  the  cuff  button  he 
had  discovered  in  the  empty  apartment. 

The  examination  completed,  Marsh  turned  to 
Morgan. 

"Do  you  notice  that  this  man  was  stabbed, 
not  shot?"  he  asked. 

' '  Yes, "  returned  Morgan.  1 1  That  was  one  of 
the  things  I  looked  to  make  certain  of." 

"Now,"  said  Marsh,  addressing  the  two  de- 
tectives, "I  guess  this  job  has  warmed  you  fel- 
lows up.  We  can't  lose  another  minute.  You, 
Tierney,  make  a  careful  examination  of  this  at- 
tic. It  should  not  take  you  long,  and  you  can 
then  join  Morgan,  who  will  start  now  to  make 
an  examination  of  the  second  and  third  floors. 
Nels  and  I  will  look  over  the  first  floor  and  the 
basement.  You  join  us  as  soon  as  you  get 
through.  If  you  find  anything  worth  while, 
bring  it  down. ' ' 

Leaving  Tierney  in  the  attic,  and  dropping 
Morgan  off  at  the  third  floor,  Marsh  and  Nels 
passed  on  down  to  the  first  floor  of  the  house. 
A  careful  inspection  of  this  floor  brought  noth- 
ing of  especial  interest  to  light  except  that  there 
were  no  signs  of  its  having  been  used.  The 

264 


THE  CHIMNEY  THAT  WOULDN'T  DEAW 

kitchen  and  the  pantry  were  bare  of  food,  and 
Marsh  could  see  that  neither  of  the  sinks  in  the 
pantry  and  the  kitchen,  nor  the  kitchen  stove, 
had  been  used  for  a  long  time. 

"I  thought  you  said  those  men  were  living  in 
the  house,"  he  queried,  turning  to  Nels. 

"So  Aye  tenk,"  Nels  assured  him. 

"Queer,"  murmured  Marsh.  "No  fire,  no 
food,  and  no  signs  of  cooking." 

"Mebbe  in  basement,"  suggested  Nels. 

"Well,  we're  going  there  now,"  said  Marsh. 
"Do  you  know  the  way,  Nels?" 

"Aye  guess,"  replied  the  Swede,  leading  the 
way  into  a  long  hall  that  led  from  the  pantry 
along  one  side  of  the  house.  A  short  distance 
up  this  hall  Nels  opened  a  door,  and  they  dis- 
covered a  stairway  leading  into  the  basement. 
Marsh  lit  a  match  and  located  an  electric  switch. 
When  he  turned  this  a  light  flashed  on  below 
and  they  descended  the  stairs.  Here  they  found 
a  hall  leading  across  the  house,  with  a  doorway 
at  the  far  end,  and  one  on  either  side. 

"Aye  tenk,"  said  Nels,  pointing  down  the 
hall,  "dat  door  go  outside — dis  one  to  laundry— 
dat  one  Aye  don't  know." 

Marsh  opened  the  last  door  indicated  by  Nels, 
265 


THE  SHERIDAN  EOAD  MYSTERY 

and  lighting  another  match,  found  it  a  rough 
basement  containing  the  heating  plant,  coal 
bins,  and  general  storage  space.  He  found  the 
electric  light  and  turned  it  on.  But  little  coal 
was  left  in  the  bins,  and  the  thick  mantle  of  dust 
over  the  other  things  in  this  part  of  the  base- 
ment showed  that  it  had  been  a  long  time  since 
anything  had  been  touched.  The  last  thing, 
Marsh  looked  into  the  firebox  under  the  heating 
plant.  This  was  well  filled  with  an  ash  that  had 
resulted  from  the  burning  of  papers,  but  after 
poking  around  with  a  long  stick,  he  found  that 
nothing  remained  which  could  in  any  way  be 
used  as  evidence. 

Turning  out  the  light,  they  crossed  the  hall 
and  opened  the  other  door.  "With  a  match, 
Marsh  found  a  wall  switch  close  to  the  door,  and 
snapping  this,  the  room  was  flooded  with  bril- 
liant light  from  several  electric  lamps  pendant 
from  the  ceiling,  each  covered  with  a  green 
metal  shade. 

Here  was  the  solution  of  the  deserted  condi- 
tion of  the  upper  part  of  the  house.  That  part 
of  the  house  had  been  left  intentionally  de- 
serted, for  all  the  men's  activities  had  been 
centered  in  this  room.  It  was  a  large,  square 

266 


THE  CHIMNEY  THAT  WOULDN'T  DKAW1 

room  that  had  been  the  laundry  of  the  house. 
Four  cots,  standing  along  one  wall,  indicated 
where  the  men  had  slept,  and  several  pots  on 
the  gas  stove  showed  where  they  had  obtained 
their  heat  and  done  their  cooking.  Through  the 
glass  door  of  a  cupboard,  in  one  corner,  he  saw 
cans  and  packages  of  food.  The  table,  in  the 
center  of  the  room,  was  littered  with  soiled 
dishes  and  the  remains  of  a  meal. 

Large  patches  of  black  cloth  on  two  sides  of 
the  room  marked  the  probable  location  of  win- 
dows which  had  been  carefully  covered  to  keep 
any  light  from  showing  on  the  outside.  But 
what  interested  Marsh  most  was  the  complete 
counterfeiting  equipment  in  one  corner  of  the 
room.  A  small  trunk  also  stood  in  this  corner, 
and  raising  the  lid  Marsh  discovered  a  large 
quantity  of  the  five  dollar  bills  he  had  been 
tracing  over  the  country  for  the  last  two  years. 
,  What  he  really  sought,  however,  were  the  plates, 
and  these  were  apparently  missing. 

At  this  moment  Nels  spoke.  "You  like  to  see 
dis  1 "  he  asked. 

Turning,  Marsh  found  that  Nels  had  the 
cupboard  door  open,  and  was  pointing  to  a 
suitcase,  which  lay  on  the  floor.  It  had  been 

267 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

previously  concealed  by  the  lower  part  of  the 
door. 

"You  bet  I  would!"  exclaimed  Marsh  and 
hurried  across  to  the  cupboard.  He  pulled  out 
the  suitcase,  which  was  fairly  heavy,  and  tried 
to  open  it.  It  was  locked.  Nels  pulled  out  a  big 
knife,  with  a  long  blade,  and  began  to  cut 
through  the  leather  at  the  edges.  He  presently 
laid  back  one  side  of  the  suitcase,  exposing  some 
clothing  to  view.  It  was  only  a  thin  layer,  how- 
ever, which  Marsh  threw  quickly  aside.  Under 
the  clothing  he  found  a  carefully  wrapped  pack- 
age. Tearing  off  the  covering,  he  saw  what  he 
sought — the  plates  for  the  five  dollar  bills.  Be- 
neath the  package,  laid  out  in  a  carefully  ar- 
ranged row,  were  bundles  of  stocks  and  bonds. 

Here,  at  last,  was  the  evidence  Marsh  had 
sought,  and  the  confirmation  of  the  theory  he 
had  carefully  worked  out. 


268 


CHAPTER  XXII 

COEUERED 

MARSH  replaced  everything  in  the  suit- 
case, put  it  back  in  the  cupboard,  and 
closed  the  door. 

"We're  through  here  for  the  present,  Nels," 
he  said. 

Shutting  off  the  lights,  the  two  men  returned 
to  the  main  floor.  As  they  entered  the  library, 
Morgan  and  Tierney  appeared,  having  com- 
pleted their  search  of  the  upper  part  of  the 
house. 

"Any  luck?"  asked  Marsh. 

"Nothing  at  all  with  any  bearing  on  the 
case,"  answered  Morgan.  "How  about  you?" 

* '  I  found  all  the  evidence  we  need ;  most  of  it 
in  a  suitcase,  which  is  probably  the  one  Atwood 
removed  from  his  apartment." 

"There  goes  one  of  your  theories,  Marsh," 
laughed  Morgan. 

"Which  one?"  inquired  Marsh. 
269 


THE  SHERIDAN  EOAD  MYSTERY 

1 '  That  Clark  Atwood  and  this  man  Hunt  were 
not  in  cahoots. " 

Marsh  smiled.  "What  is  the  proverb?"  he 
said.  "  'Tis  wisdom  sometimes  to  seem  a  fooL* 

"Now  then,  Morgan,"  he  continued,  briskly, 
"there's  the  telephone.  You  make  arrange- 
ments to  have  your  men  come  out  and  take  care 
of  the  evidence  in  the  basement,  and  the  prison- 
ers. "While  you're  doing  that,  the  rest  of  us 
will  bring  in  those  fellows  we  left  out  by  the 
road. ' ' 

Morgan  went  to  the  telephone  as  directed,  and 
Marsh  led  the  others  down  the  drive  to  the  gate. 
Everything  was  just  as  they  had  left  it,  and  they 
found  the  two  men  where  they  had  placed  them, 
behind  the  bushes. 

"If  I'm  any  example,"  said  Tierney,  "these 
two  guys  must  be  near  frozen  to  death." 

"That'll  cool  off  their  ambition  for  a  fight," 
replied  Marsh. 

Marsh  placed  Wagner,  who  was  the -smaller 
of  the  two  men,  over  his  shoulder,  and  Tierney 
and  Nels,  carrying  the  other  man  between  them, 
followed  Marsh  back  to  the  house.  They  put 
the  two  men  in  chairs  in  the  library,  and  lifting 
the  other  man  from  the  floor  placed  him  in  a 

270 


CORNERED 

chair  near  them.    Marsh  then  turned  to  Morgan, 
"Have  you  fixed  everything  up?" 
"Yes,  they  ought  to  be  here  inside  of  an  hour, 
and  a  half." 

"Fine!"  commented  Marsh.  Then  turning 
to  Nels,  he  pulled  out  a  bill  and  presented  it. 

"Nels,"  he  said,  "we've  all  got  to  go  into  the 
city.     Somebody  must  watch  this  place  while 
we're  gone.    You  have  a  good  gun  there,  so  you 
can  stick  around  until  the  police  come." 
"Sure — Aye  watch." 

' '  Come  on, ' '  Marsh  called,  and  the  three  men 
started  out.  The  last  thing  Marsh  heard  as  he 
went  down  the  steps,  was  a  voice  murmuring, 
"He  bane  fine  man." 

Oak  Street  lay  shadowy  and  deserted,  as 
Marsh,  accompanied  by  Morgan  and  Tierney, 
turned  into  it  from  Rush  Street. 

"Wait  here  for  a  minute,"  requested  Marsh, 
as  they  stopped  in  front  of  the  entrance  to 
Hunt's  building,  and  he  moved  toward  the  dark 
tradesmen's  entrance.  As  he  neared  it,  a  man 
appeared  from  the  shadows.  They  held  a  low- 
voiced  conversation,  and  Marsh  then  returned 
to  the  others.  "When  the  door  was  opened,  in 

271 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

answer  to  their  ring,  the  three  detectives 
climbed  the  stairs. 

Hunt's  man-servant  stood  at  the  door. 

"Mr.  Hunt  in?"  asked  Marsh. 

"Yes,  sir,"  replied  the  man.  "I  think  you 
were  here  before,  sir." 

"Yes,  Sunday  night." 

"Walk  right  in,  sir.  Mr.  Hunt's  in  the  living 
room." 

Hunt  had  evidently  been  reading,  but  had 
risen  at  the  sound  of  voices,  for  on  entering  the 
living  room  they  found  him  standing  by  the 
davenport,  with  his  finger  between  the  pages  of 
a  book. 

"Good  evening,"  said  Marsh. 

There  was  a  look  of  surprise  on  Hunt's  face, 
but  he  quickly  mastered  it. 

"I  hardly  expected  to  see  you  here,"  he  ob- 
served, significantly.  "And  who  are  your 
friends  ? ' ' 

"Detective  Sergeant  Morgan,  whom  you  have 
met  before ;  and  his  partner,  Detective  Sergeant 
Tierney." 

Again  that  astonished  expression  passed  over 
Hunt's  face.  He  spoke  quite  calmly,  how- 
ever. 

272 


COENEEED 

"May  I  ask  the  reason  for  this  late  call?" 

"It's  really  a  continuation  of  the  visit  I  made 
here  Sunday  night,"  answered  Marsh.  "My 
story  has  had  another  and  more  interesting 
chapter  added  to  it,  and  I  thought  you  might 
like  to  hear  it." 

"Naturally,  I  am  interested,"  returned  Hunt, 
smiling.  "Will  you  gentlemen  take  chairs?" 

Hunt's  man,  who  had  followed  them  into  the 
room,  now  offered  to  assist  them  in  taking  off 
their  coats. 

"Never  mind,"  said  Marsh,  "we  shall  be  here 
only  a  few  minutes, ' '  and  the  man  left  the  room. 

Marsh  now  seated  himself  in  the  chair  he  had 
occupied  on  the  occasion  of  his  previous  visit, 
and  Morgan  and  Tierney  took  chairs  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  fireplace.  Hunt  laid  aside 
his  book  and  offered  them  cigars  from  a  humi- 
dor. Marsh  refused,  calling  attention  to  the 
fact  that  he  was  lighting  a  cigarette,  but  Mor- 
gan and  Tierney  accepted,  and  Hunt,  selecting 
a  cigar  for  himself,  then  settled  down  among 
the  cushions  in  a  corner  of  the  davenport. 

"My  story  really  begins  two  years  ago,  Mr. 
Hunt,"  said  Marsh,  "but  I  will  pass  briefly  over 
the  early  part  of  it  by  merely  saying  that  at  that 

273 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

time  I  took  up  the  trail  of  a  counterfeiter,  known 
as  Clark  Atwood." 

"Why  should  you  take  up  the  trail  of  a  coun- 
terfeiter?" inquired  Hunt. 

"Because/*  declared  Marsh,  throwing  back 
his  coat  and  exposing  his  badge,  "I  belong  to 
the  Secret  Service  Division  of  the  United  States 
Treasury  Department." 

Hunt  remained  silent  and  Marsh  continued. 
"Upon  the  death  of  his  wife  in  St.  Louis,  a 
few  months  ago,  this  man  Atwood  brought  his 
daughter  to  Chicago  and  placed  her  in  an  apart- 
ment on  Sheridan  Road.  Posing  as  a  traveling 
man,  Atwood  was  busy  in  other  places,  and 
made  only  occasional  visits  to  his  daughter.  To 
maintain  a  place  of  safety  and  refuge  in  time 
of  trouble,  this  man  Atwood  kept  his  daughter 
in  ignorance  of  his  real  occupation.  I  may  say, 
at  this  point,  that  Atwood  had  made  his  living 
by  criminal  means  for  many  years,  and  the  ven- 
ture in  counterfeiting  was  simply  the  latest  of 
his  many  ways  of  gaining  a  livelihood. 

"In  the  course  of  time  it  became  necessary 
for  Atwood  to  get  a  certain  man  out  of  the  way. 
The  plans  were  carefully  laid  and  the  stage  set. 
His  daughter  believed  him  to  be  traveling  on  the 

274 


f 


COENEEED 

road,  but  after  he  was  sure  that  she  had  retired 
for  the  night,  he  quietly  entered  his  apartment, 
went  to  her  bedroom,  and  by  means  of  a  hypo- 
dermic needle,  charged  with  morphine,  rendered 
her  unconscious  while  she  slept,  so  that  there 
would  be  no  chance  of  her  awakening  and  spoil- 
ing his  plans.  Then  Atwood,  and  a  well  known 
police  character  known  as  'Baldy'  Newman,  en- 
tered an  empty  apartment  across  the  hall  by 
means  of  a  duplicate  key.  At  twelve  o'clock, 
this  man  'Baldy'  telephoned  the  victim  at  his 
hotel.  Newman  represented  himself  as  the 
man's  former  chauffeur,  and  appealed  for  im- 
mediate assistance  to  get  out  of  some  trouble 
he  was  in.  Atwood,  and  his  confederate,  then 
waited  in  the  dining  room  of  this  apartment  un- 
til the  victim  rang  the  bell.  Newman  admitted 
him  and  led  him  into  the  dining  room.  There 
the  two  men  confronted  him  with  revolvers  and 
on  the  threat  of  taking  his  life,  forced  him  to 
sign  a  paper. 

"After  that,  the  victim  made  an  attempt  to 
escape.  He  fled  to  the  front  of  the  apartment, 
closely  pursued  by  the  two  men.  They  at- 
tempted to  make  away  with  him  silently,  as 
originally  planned,  by  knifing  Mm  to  death.  The 

275 


THE  SHEKIDAN  BOAD  MYSTERY 

victim  brought  a  hitch  into  their  plans  by  draw- 
ing a  revolver  and  firing  one  shot  before  he 
died.  Had  this  not  occurred,  it  is  probable  that 
the  murderers  >  plans  would  not  have  been  dis- 
covered until  long  after  they  had  made  a  safe 
getaway.  As  it  was,  the  shot  merely  hastened 
their  actions  at  the  time.  The  lights  in  the 
apartment  were  turned  out,  the  dead  man  was 
carried  across  the  hall,  through  Atwood's  apart- 
ment, and  down  the  rear  stairs,  where  he  was 
thrown  into  a  waiting  automobile.  "When  the 
police  arrived,  a  few  minutes  later,  the  men  be- 
lieved that  they  had  gotten  safely  away,  with- 
out leaving  a  trace.  They  did  leave  traces,  how- 
ever, and  from  that  minute  the  police  never  left 
the  trail  until  they  closed  in  on  the  men  today." 

Marsh  took  a  photograph  from  his  pocket. 
"Among  the  traces  left  in  that  apartment,"  he 
went  on,  "were  the  imprints  of  a  man's  hands 
on  the  dining  room  table.  I  have  here  a  photo- 
graph of  those  imprints,  and  among  the  many 
Identifying  marks  there  is  a  scar  of  a  peculiar 
shape." 

Marsh  returned  the  photograph  to  his  pocket. 

"I  am  very  glad  to  learn  that  you  have 
cleared  up  the  murder  of  my  employer,  Mr. 

276 


COENEEED 

Marsh,"  said  Hunt.  "What  seems  curious  to 
me,  however,  is  why  you  should  think  this  man 
Atwood  would  want  to  kill  Mr.  Merton.  Surely 
Mr.  Merton  could  never  have  had  any  dealings 
with  a  criminal  such  as  you  describe  Atwood  to 
be." 

"On  the  contrary,  Mr.  Hunt,"  returned 
Marsh,  "Merton  had  extensive  business  deal- 
ings with  Atwood.  In  fact,  he  went  so  far  as 
to  place  Atwood  in  a  position  where  he  could 
rob  Merton  of  several  hundred  thousand  dol- 
lars worth  of  stocks  and  bonds.  The  transfer 
of  these  securities  had  been  taking  place  for  a 
year  or  more,  and  it  had  reached  the  point 
where  the  greater  part  of  Merton 's  fortune  was 
in  Atwood 's  hands.  It  is  evident  that  Atwood 's 
original  intention  was  to  step  quietly  out  of 
sight  with  this  fortune,  but  subsequent  events 
led  him  to  believe  that  he  could  go  on  in  quiet 
security  if  Merton  were  out  of  the  way.  That 
was  the  reason  why  Merton  was  murdered." 

Hunt  threw  the  remains  of  his  cigar  into  the 
fireplace,  and  slipped  the  hand  that  had  held  it 
down  into  the  pillows  of  the  davenport. 

"And  you  think  you  have  at  last  located  this 
man  Atwood  do  you,  Mr.  Marsh?" 

277 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

"Yes,"  returned  Marsh,  calmly,  "because  I 
have  absolute  proof  that  Clark  Ativood  and 
Gilbert  Hunt  are  one  and  the  same  man!" 

Instantly  Hunt's  hand  whipped  out  from  be- 
hind the  sofa  cushions,  and  the  three  detectives 
found  themselves  covered  by  an  automatic  as 
Hunt  stood  up. 

"Clever  work,  gentlemen,"  he  said,  smiling. 
"But  after  leading  men  of  your  type  around  by 
the  nose  for  many  years,  you  can  hardly  expect 
me  to  stay  here  and  calmly  accept  defeat  now.'* 

"Oh,  no,"  answered  Marsh.  "We  fully  ex- 
pected you  to  put  up  a  good  fight."  He  slipped 
his  hands  into  his  trouser  pockets,  and  crossing 
his  legs,  leaned  back,  smiling  up  at  Hunt.  "Go 
ahead;  what's  your  next  move?" 

"My  next  move,"  cried  Hunt,  sharply,  "is  to 
leave  you  damn  fools  sitting  right  there.  When 
I  didn't  hear  from  my  men  this  afternoon  I 
knew  that  something  was  wrong,  and  my  way 
of  escape  is  ready." 

He  backed  slowly  toward  the  door,  keeping 
the  detectives  covered  with  his  automatic. 
When  he  reached  the  door  of  the  room,  he 
2alled,  "Everything  ready,  George?" 

"Yes,  sir,"  a  voice  replied  from  the  distance. 
278 


COENEEED 

Hunt  again  addressed  the  detectives.  "I  ad- 
vise you  gentlemen  to  stay  quietly  where  you 
are  for  a  few  minutes.  I  am  going  out  of  the 
back  door  of  this  apartment,  and  you  will  find 
it  difficult  to  find  your  way  through  in  the  dark — • 
especially  as  you  may  meet  a  shot  at  any  mo- 
ment. I  bid  you  good  evening,  gentlemen. ' ' 

With  that,  Hunt  backed  out  of  sight  through 
the  doorway  and  all  was  silent.  Immediately, 
Morgan  and  Tierney  leaped  to  their  feet  and 
dashed  toward  the  door. 

"Hold  on!"  exclaimed  Marsh,  still  sitting 
quietly  in  his  chair,  "Where  are  you  going?" 

The  two  detectives  stopped  in  astonishment. 

"We're  going  to  get  him!"  shouted  Tierney. 

"No  need  of  taking  all  that  trouble,"  re- 
turned Marsh.  "My  men  are  ready  for  him. 
Long  ago  a  Secret  Service  man  even  replaced 
his  driver  at  the  wheel  of  his  car. ' ' 

As  if  in  answer  to  this  statement  from  Marsh, 
there  was  a  distant  fusillade  of  shots. 

"They've  got  him,"  said  Marsh,  rising. 
"Now  we  can  go." 

"If  there's  no  hurry  now,"  said  Morgan,  "I 
wish  you  would  tell  us  the  rest  of  the  story." 

"What  do  you  mean?"  inquired  Marsh. 
279 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

"How  did  you  come  to  connect  these  two  men, 
and  how  did  you  get  that  inside  dope  on  the 
stealing?" 

"You  know  all  the  incidents,"  returned 
Marsh,  "and  you  ought  to  be  able  to  connect 
them  as  I  did.  The  only  information  I  had 
about  which  you  did  not  know  was  that  note- 
book. The  book  contained  memoranda  in 
Hunt's  handwriting,  which,  by  the  way,  closely 
resembled  the  writing  in  Atwood's  last  letter. 
Among  these  were  the  names,  addresses  and 
telephone  numbers  of  the  men  who  worked  with 
him,  and  showing  their  different  locations  dur- 
ing the  past  year  or  two.  He  also  made  nota- 
tions of  the  different  stocks  and  bonds  which  he 
took  out  of  Merton's  vaults  at  various  times. 

"Atwood,  you  know,  took  a  suitcase  at  the 
last  moment  from  his  apartment.  This  after- 
noon I  located  a  suitcase  in  the  Merton  house, 
containing  the  counterfeit  plates,  and  the  stocks 
and  bonds  which  I  had  found  noted  in  Hunt's 
memorandum  book.  Naturally,  a  large  part  of 
the  story  I  told  tonight  was  merely  surmise  on 
my  part,  but  you  can  see  how  near  I  came  to  the 
truth  from  the  way  Hunt  acted. 

"Another  interesting  point,  due  to  your  fore- 
280 


CORNERED 

sight,  Morgan,  was  that  matter  of  the  scar.  I 
studied  very  carefully  the  photograph  you  had 
taken.  Sunday  night,  when  I  was  calling  here 
on  Hunt,  I  goaded  him  into  a  rage,  so  that  he 
shook  his  right  fist  in  my  face.  I  had  a  good 
view  of  the  scar  then,  and  my  last  doubt  van- 
ished." 

"Another  point  that  isn't  clear,"  queried 
Morgan,  "is  that  paper  Merton  signed.  What 
was  it?" 

"I  don't  know,"  said  Marsh.  "That  was  a 
wild  guess  on  my  part ;  that  he  had  signed  any 
paper  at  all.  It  seemed  odd,  however,  that  an 
experienced  financier  like  Merton  would  make 
an  employee  sole  executor.  So  I  decided  that 
before  his  death,  Merton  was  forced  to  sign 
either  a  new  will,  or  a  codicil  to  his  old  will, 
which  was  dated  back  some  months  so  as  to  off- 
set any  suspicions." 

"And  what  do  you  suppose  Hunt  expected  to 
gain  by  kidnapping  all  of  us  ? "  again  questioned 
Morgan. 

"Don't  you  see,"  explained  Marsh,  "that  we 
were  getting  too  close,  and  might  be  expected  to 
spring  the  trap  at  any  minute.  Our  disappear- 
ance would  divert  the  police  into  a  search  for 

281 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

ns  instead  of  for  them.  In  the  meantime,  they 
could  get  quietly  away  and  vanish.  And  be- 
sides, I  was  supposed  to  have  that  notebook — 
the  most  incriminating  evidence  we  possessed  at 
that  time." 

'  *  But  see  here, ' '  now  broke  in  Tierney.  ' '  Why 
did  you  let  that  guy  think  he  had  a  chance  to 
get  away,  when  you  had  the  goods  on  him?  The 
three  of  us  could  have  nabbed  him  the  minute 
we  came  in." 

"Tierney,"  replied  Marsh,  "there's  a  little 
girl  up  north  that  I  hope  to  marry  some  day. 
You  know  her — she's  Atwood's  daughter.  If 
that  girl  knew  that  her  father  was  a  crook  it 
would  break  her  heart.  I  didn't  intend  that  she 
should  ever  know.  I  told  Hunt  that  story  to- 
night so  as  to  show  him  the  hopelessness  of  his 
position,  and  thus  drive  him  out  to  a  finish  bat- 
tle with  my  men.  Sooner  or  later  he  had  to 
pay  the  penalty  of  being  a  murderer,  and  I  did 
not  think  he  would  allow  himself  to  be  taken 
alive,  so  I  gave  him  his  chance.  His  death  pre- 
vents a  personal  trial  and  the  presenting  of  all 
the  evidence.  The  name  of  Atwood  need  not 
now  appear  in  the  reports  of  the  case,  and  the 
girl  will  never  connect  the  references  that  may 

282 


COENEEED 

be  made  to  Gilbert  Hunt,  with  her  father." 

"One  week!"  exclaimed  Morgan.  "Marsh, 
you  complimented  me  once  on  twenty-four 
hours  bum  work.  It's  my  turn  now,  to  hand  it 
to  you  for  one  week's  real  work." 

"I  appreciate  your  good  intentions,  Mor- 
gan," laughed  Marsh,  "but  you  forget  that  I 
have  actually  been  two  years  on  this  job.  The 
last  week  was  simply  the  windup.  It  was  not 
my  superior  work — merely  a  slip  in  the  man's 
plans  that  gave  me  a  clue." 

"Hell!"  cried  Tierney.  "Cut  that  modest 
stuff.  A  man  who  could  turn  the  biggest 
mystery  the  Department  ever  had  into  a  clue,  is 
some  guy!" 


283 


SUNSET 

ONE  of  the  sudden  changes  characteristic 
of  the  Chicago  climate  had  taken  place. 
The  wintry  chill  had  left  the  air  before 
the  advance  of  a  soft,  warm  breeze  that  blew 
out  of  the  west.  It  might  have  been  early  spring 
instead  of  late  fall. 

Marsh  waited  outside  the  music  school  on 
Michigan  Avenue  for  Jane  Atwood.  Presently 
she  appeared,  and  Marsh  was  conscious  of  a 
quickened  beating  of  the  heart  as  he  watched 
the  slender,  graceful  figure  approach.  He  noted 
the  becoming  flush,  which  spread  over  her  fea- 
tures as  she  recognized  him,  and  he  was  certain 
that  no  woman  ever  before  had  such  sparkling 
eyes  and  so  sweet  a  smile. 

"This  is  a  pleasant  surprise,"  she  greeted 
him. 

"I  knew  you  had  a  lesson  today,"  explained 
Marsh,  "and  the  weather  was  so  fine  that  I 

284 


SUNSET 

thought  you  might  enjoy  a  walk  before  you  went 
home." 

1  'I  should  love  it!"  she  exclaimed.  "I  was 
just  dreading  the  thought  of  going  straight 
home  to  that  plain  little  room  in  the  hotel. 
Hotel  rooms  never  do  seem  homelike,  do 
they?" 

"Most  of  my  life  has  been  spent  in  hotels," 
returned  Marsh,  as  they  strolled  toward  the 
curb.  "My  parents  died  before  I  was  twenty, 
and  since  then  I  have  led  a  roving  life."  He 
signaled  a  passing  taxi,  and  directed  the  chauf- 
feur to  take  them  to  Lincoln  Park. 

Marsh  glanced  down  Oak  Street  as  the  car 
flashed  by.  The  mysterious  shadows  that  hung 
over  the  street  at  night,  and  the  recent  tragic 
incident  which  had  taken  place  there,  seemed 
almost  like  a  dream  to  Marsh,  as  he  saw  the 
street  stretch  peacefully  toward  the  west  in  the 
light  of  the  late  afternoon  sun.  Marsh's  at- 
tention was  quickly  diverted,  however,  for  at 
this  point  the  tall  buildings,  the  smoky  streets, 
and  the  crowds  were  left  behind.  At  one  side 
began  the  long  line  of  palatial  residences  that 
has  brought  to  this  section  of  Chicago  the 
sobriquet  of  "The  Gold  Coast"  On  the  other 

285 


THE  SHERIDAN  ROAD  MYSTERY 

side  lay  a  strip  of  park,  and  beyond  that 
stretched  the  rolling  waters  of  Lake  Michigan, 
as  far  as  the  eye  could  see. 

"This  is  what  I  like  about  Chicago,"  ex- 
claimed Marsh.  "After  a  day  in  the  hurry  and 
bustle  and  grind  of  the  business  district,  you 
are  swept  in  a  few  minutes  into  a  region  of 
trees,  grass  and  spreading  waters.  At  one 
stroke  you  seem  to  leave  the  seething  city  be- 
hind and  enter  into  the  wide  spaces  of  the 
earth." 

"You  speak  like  a  poet,"  declared  the  girl, 
"rather  than  a  plain  business  man." 

"Perhaps,"  returned  Marsh,  in  a  low  voice, 
"it  is  because  of  something  new  that  has  come 
into  my  life." 

The  girPs  eyes  looked  into  his  for  a  moment, 
and  seemed  to  read  something  there,  for  she 
turned  with  heightened  color  to  look  out  over 
the  lake. 

They  sat  in  silence  for  the  next  few  minutes ; 
then  Marsh  leaned  forward  and  opened  the  door 
of  the  taxi.  ".We'll  stop  here,"  he  called  to  the 
driver. 

"Have  you  "been  in  Lincoln  Park  before?"  he 
inquired,  as  they  strolled  north. 

286 


SUNSET 

"Only  to  pass  through  in  the  bus,"  returned 
Jane. 

"I  think,"  commented  Marsh,  "that  this  is 
one  of  the  prettiest  parks.  I  presume  that  those 
rolling  hills  are  artificial,  but  they  are  certainly 
a  relief,  after  the1  monotonous  flatness  of  the 
rest  of  the  city.  There  is  one,  just  ahead  of  us, 
that  is  the  highest  in  the  park.  I  want  to  take 
you  there,  for  it  is  a  place  where  I  have  often 
sat  during  the  last  few  months,  when  I  wanted 
to  be  alone  and  think." 

"I  believe,"  said  Jane,  "that  this  is  the  first 
time  you  have  really  told  me  anything  about 
yourself." 

"Frankly,"  replied  Marsh,  "that  is  one  of 
the  reasons  why  I  suggested  this  walk  today. 
This  favorite  spot  of  mine  appealed  to  me  as 
just  the  place  to  tell  you  something  of  my  story. 
There  it  is,"  he  added,  pointing  across  the 
driveway  to  a  little  tree-clad  hill.  He  guided 
her  across  the  drive,  up  the  winding  path 
through  the  trees,  to  an  open  space  on  the  hill- 
top, where  they  found  a  bench  and  sat  down. 

"It  is  beautiful,"  agreed  the  girl. 

Several  miles  of  the  shore  line  lay  stretched 
before  them,  and  beyond  it  miles  and  miles  of 

287 


3?HE  SHERIDAN  KOAD  MYSTERY 

blue-green  water  rolled  in,  to  break  into  minia- 
ture waves  against  the  embankment.  The  sun 
had  nearly  touched  the  treetops  behind  them, 
and  the  gray  of  evening  already  lay  out  over  the 
lake.  The  distant  horizon  changed  from  a  deep 
purplish  tint,  where  it  met  the  water,  through 
many  shades,  until  it  turned  to  rich  gold,  where 
the  light  of  the  setting  sun  fell  full  upon  fleecy 
clouds  that  drifted  slowly,  far  up  in  the  air. 

"You  asked  me  a  few  days  ago,"  began 
Marsh,  "about  the  nature  of  my  business.  I 
did  not  feel  free  to  tell  you  at  that  time,  because 
I  was  engaged  in  working  out  one  of  my  most 
important  cases.  That  case  is  completed;  and 
so  is  my  work  along  that  line.  I  am  a  detective, 
Miss  Atwood — for  the  last  ten  years  in  the 
Secret  Service  Division  of  the  United  Stages 
Government. " 

"How  interesting, "  she  exclaimed. 

"No,  you  are  wrong,"  returned  Marsh.  "I 
thought  it  was  interesting,  but  I  have  found  out 
my  mistake.  It  was  a  wandering,  unnatural 
life,  full  of  nervous  days  and  sleepless  nights. 
No  home  life,  no  family,  no  friends — lacking  all 
the  things  that  really  make  life  worth  living. 
Miss  Atwood,  the  men  who  work  down  there  in 

288 


SUNSET 

those  great  buildings  during  the  day,  and  go 
to  a  little  home  at  night,  to  be  greeted  by  a 
cheery  wife  and  romping  children,  are  the  most 
fortunate  men  in  the  world.  Some  of  them 
grow  restless  at  times,  and  may  long  for 
what  they  think  is  the  glamour  and  excitement 
of  a  life  like  mine.  Work  such  as  mine  is 
necessary  to  the  peace,  happiness  and  progress 
of  the  world — but  I  have  come  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  I  would  rather  let  the  other  fellow 
doit." 

"What  do  you  plan  to  do,  then?"  the  girl 
asked  softly. 

"Unfortunately,  my  training  has  been  along 
one  line  only,  and  I  must  stick  to  that.  But  I 
intend  to  follow  it  in  a  way  that  will  permit  me 
to  have  a  home,  and  some  of  the  things  in  life 
which  other  men  enjoy.  I  have  already  sent  in 
my  resignation  to  the  Secret  Service.  As  soon 
as  it  is  accepted  I  plan  to  open  an  office  in  Chi- 
cago, to  do  private  investigative  work.  There 
is  an  immense  opportunity  for  this  among  the 
thousands  of  great  business  houses  here.  Then 
I  am  going  to  have  a  home — and,"  he  added, 
leaning  toward  her  and  gazing  straight  into  her 
eyes,  "I  want  you  to  help  me  start  that  home." 

289 


THE  SHERIDAN  EOAD  MYSTEEY 

Jane  flushed.  "What  do  you  mean?"  she 
murmured. 

"That  I  love  you,"  replied  Marsh,  as  he  took 
her  small,  soft  hand  in  his. 

"But  you  have  known  me  such  a  short  time," 
protested  Jane. 

"Jane,"  he  said,  "I  have  watched  over  you 
for  nearly  two  years.  When  you  walked  along 
St.  Louis  streets  and  entered  shops ;  when  you 
passed  back  and  forth  to  your  music  school  in 
Chicago;  I  was  many  times  close  at  hand." 

She  gazed  at  him  in  startled  surprise.  "I 
don't  understand,"  she  said. 

"My  work  took  me  to  St.  Louis,"  Marsh  ex- 
plained. "There  I  saw  you  and  fell  in  love. 
The  same  work  brought  me  to  Chicago,  soon 
after  you  arrived  here,  and  though  you  did  not 
know  me — probably  not  even  by  sight — I  was 
there,  watching  over  you,  and  worshipping  day 
by  day.  Perhaps  a  week  is  too  short  a  time 
for  you  to  begin  to  care,  but  I  had  hoped  that 
you  would." 

"I  do  care,"  she  half  whispered,  "but  I  did 
not  know  that  you  thought  so  much  of  me.  I 
have  often  longed  for  a  real  home  myself.  You 
know,  my  own  home  was  never  really  a  happy 

290 


SUNSET 

one>  For  years  my  mother  was  sickly  and  nerv- 
ous, and  it  was  I  who  incurred  all  the  household 
responsibilities.  It  has  been  years  since  I  had 
the  care  and  companionship  that  most  girls  re- 
ceive from  a  mother.  My  father  always  pro- 
vided liberally  for  us,  but  he  was  seldom  at 
home." 

"Then  we  will  start  a  real  home  together?" 
he  pleaded. 

"Yes,"  she  whispered. 

The  sun  sank  out  of  sight  and  the  twilight 
folded  them  in  friendly  seclusion  as  Marsh  took 
her  in  his  arms. 

THE  END 


291 


JAMES   OLIVER  CURWOOD'S 

STORIES  OF  ADVENTURE 

May  be  had  wlnrever  books  irt  sold.      Ask  for  Grtxstt  ft  Dunlap't  lirt. 

THE  RIVER'S  END~ 

A  story  of  the  Royal  Mounted  Police. 
THE  GOLDEN  SNARE 

Thrilling  adventures  in  the  Far  Northland. 
NOMADS  OF  THE  NORTH 

The  story  of  a  bear-cub  and  a  dog. 
KAZAN 

The  fcle  of  a  "quarter-strain  wolf  and  three-quarters  husky"  torn ' 
between  the  call  of  the  human  and  his  wild  mate. 

BAREE,  SON  OF  KAZAN 

The  story  of  the  son  of  the  blind  Grey  Wolf  and  the  gallant  pert 
he  played  in  the  lives  of  a  man  and  a  woman. 

THE  COURAGE  OF  CAPTAIN  PLUM 

The  story  of  the  King  of  Beaver  Island,  a  Mormon  colony,  and  bit 
battle  with  Captain  Plum. 

THE  DANGER  TRAIL 

A  tale  of  love,  Indian  vengeance,  and  a  mystery  of  the  North. 
THE  HUNTED  WOMAN 

A  tale  of  a  great  fight  in  the  "  valley  of  gold"  for  a  woman. 
THE  FLOWER  OF  THE  NORTH 

The  story  of  Fort  o'  God,  where  the  wild  flavor  of  the  wildernea* 
is  blended  with  the  courtly  atmosphere  of  France. 

THE  GRIZZLY  KING 

The  story  of  Thor,  the  big  grizzly. 
1SOBEL 

A  love  story  of  the  Far  North. 
THE  WOLF  HUNTERS 

A  thrilling  tale  of  adventure  in  the  Canadian  wilderness. 
THE  GOLD  HUNTERS 

The  story  of  adventure  in  the  Hudson  Bay  wilds. 
THE  COURAGE  OF  MARGE  O'DOONE 

Filled  with  exciting  incidents  in  the  land  of  strong  men  and  women. 
BACK  TO  GOD'S  COUNTRY 

A  thrilling  story  of  the  Far  North.  The  great  Photoplay  was  made 
from  this  book. 

GROSSET  &  DUNLAP,        PUBLISHERS,  NEW  Yoag: 


ZANE  GREY'S  NOVELS 

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THE  MAN  OF  THE  FOREST 

THE  DESERT  OF  WHEAT . 

THE  U.  P.  TRAIL 

WILDFIRE 

THE  BORDER  LEGION 

THE  RAINBOW  TRAIL 

THE  HERITAGE  OF  THE  DESERT 

RIDERS  OF  THE  PURPLE  SAGE 

THE  LIGHT  OF  WESTERN  STARS 

THE  LAST  OF  THE  PLAINSMEN 

THE  LONE  STAR  RANGER 

DESERT  GOLD 

BETTY  ZANE 

•    *    *    •    •    r»   :• 

LAST  OF  THE  GREAT  SCOUTS 

The  life  story  of  " Buffalo  Bill"  by  his  sister  Helen  Cody 
Wetmore,  with  Foreword  and  conclusion  by  Zane  Grey. 

ZANE  GREY'S  BOOKS  FOR  BOYS 

KEN  WARD  IN  THE  JUNGLE 
THE  YOUNG  LION  HUNTER 
THE  YOUNG  FORESTER 
THE  YOUNG  PITCHER 
THE  SHORT  STOP 

THE  RED-HEADED  OUTFIELD  AND  OTHER 
BASEBALL  STORIES 

GROSSET  &  DUNLAP,        PUBLISHERS,        NEW  YORK 


EDGAR  RICE  BURROUGHS 
NOVELS 

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TARZAN  THE  UNTAMED 

Tells  of  Tarzan's  return  to  the  life  of  the  ape-man  in 
his  search  for  vengeance  on  those  who  took  from  him  his 
wife  and  home. 

JUNGLE  TALES  OF  TARZAN 

Records  the  many  wonderful  exploits  by  which  Tarzan 
proves  his  right  to  ape  kingship. 

A  PRINCESS  OF  MARS 

Forty-three  million  miles  from  the  earth — a  succession 
of  the  weirdest  and  most  astounding  adventures  in  fiction. 
John  Carter,  American,  finds  himself  on  the  planet  Mars, 
battling  for  a  beautiful  woman,  with  the  Green  Men  of 
Mars,  terrible  creatures  fifteen  feet  high,  mounted  on 
horses  like  dragons. 

THE  GODS  OF  MARS 

Continuing  John  Carter*  s  adventures  on  the  Planet  Mars, 
in  which  he  does  battle  against  the  ferocious  * 'plant  men," 
creatures  whose  mighty  tails  swished  their  victims  to  instant 
death,  and  defies  Issus,  the  terrible  Goddess  of  Death, 
whom  all  Mars  worships  and  reveres. 

THE  WARLORD  OF  MARS 

Old  acquaintances,  made  in  the  two  other  stories,  reap- 
pear, Tars  Tarkas,  Tardos  Mors  and  others.  There  is  a 
happy  ending  to  the  story  in  the  union  of  the  Warlord, 
the  title  conferred  upon  John  Carter,  with  Dejah  Thoris. 

THUVIA,  MAID  OF  MARS 

The  fourth  volume  of  the  series.  The  story  centers 
around  the  adventures  of  Carthoris,  the  son  of  John  Car- 
ter and  Thuvia,  daughter  of  a  Martian  Emperor. 

GROSSET  &  DUNLAP.  PUBLISHERS,  NEW  YORK 


ETHEL    M.    DELL'S    NOVELS 

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THE  LAMP  IN  THE  DESERT 

The  scene  of  this  splendid  story  is  laid  in  India  and 
tells  of  the  lamp  of  love  that  continues  to  shine  through 
all  sorts  of  tribulations  to  final  happiness. 

GREATHEART 

The  story  of  a  cripple  whose  deformed  body  conceals 
a  noble  soul. 

THE  HUNDREDTH  CHANCE 

A  hero  who  worked  to  win   even  when  there  was  only 
a  hundredth  chance." 

THE  SWINDLER 

The  story  of  a  "bad  man's"  soul  revealed  by  a 
woman's  faith. 

THE  TIDAL  WAVE 

Talcs  of  love  and  of  women  who  learned  to  know  the 
true  from  the  false. 

THE  SAFETY  CURTAIN 

\ 
A  very  vivid  love  story  of  India.       The  volume  also 

contains  four  other  long  stories  of  equal  interest 

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